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Before
Nigeria’s opening World Cup game against Argentina on Saturday, the
belief among many Nigerian football fans was that the Super Eagles
would be thoroughly shamed by their South American opponents.

A number of factors lent weight to this belief. In
the first place, the Argentines are blessed with some of the deadliest
strikers on the planet with the world’s best player, Lionel Messi, in
their fold.

Our fear of a bashing by the Argentines was
heightened by the shambolic preparations of the Eagles going into the
tournament. A new coach was appointed only late February, just three
months to the World Cup, and the Nigeria Football Federation organised
only three friendly matches in the last two weeks before the tournament
commenced.

So, Nigerians figured that with Messi, Carlos
Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain and Diego Milito, who between them tallied over
130 goals for their clubs in the just ended football season, our Eagles
didn’t have a prayer.

As it turned out on Saturday afternoon at the
Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, Argentina only managed a slim
victory with defender Gabriel Heinze’s sixth minute goal making the
difference. It must be conceded however, that the 1-0 does not
accurately reflect the effort and determination of the Argentines.

Indeed, Messi was at his creative best, threading
passes and making dangerous runs into Nigeria’s goal area but was
thwarted again and again by the brilliance of Eagles goalkeeper,
Vincent Enyeama whose valiant efforts deservedly won him the ‘Man of
the match award’.

Our loss to Argentina has continued to generate
debate even as Nigeria’s next group match looms. In situating the loss,
some football pundits have queried Coach Lars Lagerback’s decision to
opt for a 4-4-2 formation, which they claim robbed the players of the
needed latitude to check Messi who repeatedly latched on to the ball
just in front of Nigeria’s last four. They argue that rather than
defend in two lines, which the 4-4-2 formation forced them to do,
Lagerback should have opted for a 4-3-3 formation, which would have
allowed the Eagles to threaten the Argentines whose right back appeared
flustered.

Added to the faulty formation was poor marking by
the Eagles, which provided Messi and his colleagues with acres of space
to explore time and again.

The perceived flaws notwithstanding, it must be
said that the Eagles did well given the circumstances. Under Lagerback
there has been greater discipline among the players as we have seen
from the last three friendly matches and the one against Argentina. The
Eagles are playing with a greater sense of urgency and commitment than
was the case in the past. There is also now a higher level of adherence
to tactics. One clear example is in the area of marking. It is to the
credit of our defenders that despite the intense pressure Messi and the
other Argentine forwards unleashed, they did not overreach themselves
and give away penalties.

All this is not to suggest however that there is
no room for improvement. Nigeria plays Greece on Thursday in an
encounter that is crucial to the quest of both teams to remain in the
tournament. The Greeks are certainly going to have a serious go at the
Eagles knowing that defeat at our hands means the end of the World Cup
for them. The Eagles need to be focused for this match. The
backslapping and chest thumping that followed their ‘survival’ of
Argentina should give way to maximum concentration and determination to
pick the three points on offer in this match. Nigerians expect nothing
less.