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Former Nigeria
international Nduka Ugbade feels all hope is not yet lost for the Super
Eagles regarding their chances of posting a good outing at the World
Cup, despite Tuesday night’s goal-less draw against Saudi Arabia.

The Super Eagles
were far from impressive against the Saudis in the encounter played in
the Austrian town of Wattens and did little to boost the confidence of
their teeming fans ahead of the World Cup.

In fact, the
general impression amongst Nigerians in the aftermath of Tuesday’s
friendly match is that the Super Eagles will struggle in South Africa
where they will be up against Argentina, Greece and South Korea, but
Ugbade, although not equally impressed with the performance of most of
the players that prosecuted the game against the Saudis, feels there
were a couple of positives from the encounter.

“As a Nigerian, I
wasn’t happy about the score line but I think it wasn’t all that bad,
as there were some good points as well. I’d say there’s still hope for
the team,” said Ugbade, a former Super Eagles defender.

“First of all, Lars
Lagerback finally got to play a match and got to assess the fitness
level of some of the players who didn’t get to play on a regular basis
for their clubs.”

Last chance to shine

Lagerback kept out
the likes of Taye Taiwo, Dickson Etuhu, Vincent Enyeama, Aiyegbeni
Yakubu and Osaze Odemwingie from the game against the Saudis but there
is a possibility they will all get to feature on Sunday against
Colombia in the team’s last friendly match before the Swede gets to
name his final 23-man squad for the World Cup.

Ugbade expects
Lagerback to present a much stronger line up for the game against the
Colombians but he wouldn’t mind taking another look at the likes of
Terna Suswan, Victor Anichebe and Haruna Lukman, who stood out against
the Saudis.

“The guy from Lobi
Stars (Suswan) impressed me, so also did Haruna Lukman and Anichebe,”
he said. “I don’t know if they have done enough to impress the coach
and I don’t know if they have been doing the same thing at their
training sessions but I think they did a good job.”

Looking ahead to
the Colombia tie, Ugbade expects a more aggressive, albeit not so
cohesive, display from the Super Eagles even though he is quick to
admit that it is still too early for the team to start playing the way
Lagerback would prefer them to.

“I think they will
be more aggressive against Colombia, as it will be the last chance for
some of the players to make it into the World Cup team but I don’t
think we should expect to see a great deal of cohesion, as it is still
a bit too early for that,” added Ugbade.