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When the Super Eagles step onto the
pitch later today, for their match against Greece, they will be firing
on all cylinders, aware of the fact that only a win will give them a
realistic chance of advancing to the knockout rounds of the World Cup.

Not even a draw will do, so they must
go for a win; something they have not been able to achieve since their
1-0 defeat of Bulgaria back in 1998.

“The match against Greece is so
important now because we simply have to pick up three points. We’re
still in with a good chance,” said Wolfsburg forward, Obafemi Martins,
who was used as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 loss to Argentina.

The loss to Argentina extended
Nigeria’s winless streak in the World Cup to six games, but the former
African champions side still have a realistic chance of qualifying for
the round of 16.

“Even though we lost the game to
Argentina, I believe the boys can bounce back with the next two games,”
said former Nigeria international, Sam Okpodu.

“We played very conservatively against
Argentina and waited for opportunities to counter attack. Either way,
Argentina should have won by a bigger margin,” he added.

Final chance

Indeed, the Argentines ought to have
won by a much more comfortable score line but the Super Eagles also had
opportunities to punish the South Americans, but wasted these chances.

They are now confronted with their last
chance to show they are not in South Africa to make up the numbers, and
will need to show a better attitude and confidence than they displayed
in their loss to Argentina, if they must get the three points from
today’s encounter.

“We created a few chances against
Argentina, but we could have created more,” said England-based coach,
Chukwuma Akuneto. “The Argentine defenders were clearly lacking in
pace, but (Obafemi ) Martins and (Osaze) Odemwingie were only brought
in after the break.

“I expect both of them to start this
time around because the Greeks also lack pace in their defence. This is
something we need to exploit, but we can’t afford to be wasteful this
time around because chances may be few against the Greek,” he said.

The introduction of Martins and
Odemwingie added more bite to the Eagles’ attack as they were able to
carve open the Argentine defence on a few occasions; Diego Maradona was
forced to pull out Angel Di Maria, a forward, and replaced him with
Nicolas Burdisso, a defender.

Greek coach, Otto Rehhagel, is renowned
for his defensive tactics and it won’t come as a surprise to many if
the German decides to play as many as five in the defence, even though
his side needs a win.

But the Greeks have never scored or won a game at the World Cup, and
they will be against a country that defeated them back at the 1994
World Cup. That was the year the Super Eagles made it to the round of
16, which they repeated four years later in France. But they failed to
reach the knockout rounds in 2002 and nothing less than a spot in the
next round will satisfy their fans.