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There is a general
belief among football pundits that the team that will triumph at this
year’s World Cup in South Africa may be the team welded by a collective
spirit.

Together a team bound by a collective team ethics often achieves more than a team, which is just a collection of stars.

In Nigeria’s case,
fortunately or unfortunately, this depends on how you look at the
situation – our Eagles are far from being a collection of stars, maybe
a bare sprinkling of some galaxy dust.

However, the key to
a successful outing at the Mundial rests on the outcome of its opening
match against Argentina on June 12. The match is one that is giving
Nigerian football fans the chills. The spectre of having the little
genius, Lionel Mess, Carlos Tevez and Sergei Aguerro unleashed on the
Eagles defence is one football faithful in the country dread. For many,
here in Nigeria, the South Americans are as good as victorious.

But Garba Lawal
thinks that may not be the case. Lawal, was a former Super Eagles
player and scorer of a World Cup goal against Spain at France ‘98. The
Eagles recovered in that match to beat the Spaniards 3-2. He was also a
part of the team that won that historic Olympic Gold medal at the
Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.

While he cannot say
that Nigeria will win the World Cup, he is also sure that the team will
not be disgraced – you can choose to read in between the lines. Lawal
said: “Everybody is talking about Argentina as if they are the only
team we are going to play against in South Africa. If the Eagles
prepare well and present a good team against Maradona’s men, then they
stand a chance of getting a positive result from that opening match.”
“Anything is possible in football. Nigeria beat Brazil in the semi
final of the Atlanta 1996 Olympics; that was unexpected but it
happened.” That reinforces the fact that Lars Lagerback must foist a
siege-like mentality in the team and place them in a space where they
will play out of their skin. The first match against World Cup
favourites, Argentina is very important. The Eagles must do all they
can not to lose this match. In a three-game group, losing the first
match might just mean crashing out of the tournament. In the two
editions that the Eagles have gone on to the second round, we won our
first matches.

In 1994, against
all odds, the Eagles beat Bulgaria complete with Hristo Stoichkov 3-0,
and in 1998, Nigeria beat European heavyweights, Spain 3-2. In 2002,
where we failed to qualify for the second round, Argentina beat the
Eagles 1-0 courtesy of a goal from Gabriel Batistuta. We have to
qualify at least for the second round to justify the huge $1.5million
paid to Lagerback for a contract that will end after the World Cup.

‘Chindo’ – as Lawal
was fondly referred to by admirers during his playing days- recalled
the unexpected defeat that Inter Milan handed to favourites, Barcelona
in the Champions League and used it as an analogy of the Nigeria versus
Argentina match.

The only way forward

Lawal believes so
much on the unpredictability of football. “Anything can happen on match
day. In the present collection of players that make up the ‘Super’
Eagles, the most potent weapon that we have is explosive pace and
unpredictability.” That is saying something for how Lagerback should
prepare his team. Football is an instinctive game and can be taught
(not the skills needed) by simulation of procedure and make-up. So
players can be taught to press opponents, how to push skilful players
away from danger zones and how to be tactically arranged at set plays.
This has always been a weakness of all our national teams.

Set plays

This is one
important area where Nigeria is sorely deficient. The Eagles are not
particularly fond of getting results from free kicks, corner kicks and
even penalty kicks. Equally worse is our ability to defend from these
set pieces. On occasion the Eagles have been particularly vulnerable.
Against Argentina at the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup, the goal that gave
the South Americans victory over Nigeria came off a corner kick. The
Argentines had repeatedly tried the same experiment until it paid off.

Lawal says good
coaching could solve that problem. “Only 11 intelligent and obedient
players can get the desired result in South Africa, starting with the
first game against Argentina on June 12.” The implication of Lawal’s
statement is that Lagerback should ensure that he has a set of ‘robots’
ready to carry out his instructions and plans to the letter.

In the defence against Argentina

Given the array of
attacking options the Argentines have, the intelligence Lawal referred
to has to be in good supply in the Eagles defence.

“While I am not
trying to prejudge the mind of the coach, there are some players that
apparently show that they are not intelligent. The best defenders in
the world are the ones who are always well positioned, read the play
very well and can dispossess the attacker without committing fouls,”
Lawal continued”.

Joseph Yobo, on
his good day, is a dependable defender, blessed with physical presence,
speed and aerial ability. The only problem -and this will be a big
challenge for Lagerback -is the fact that he regularly loses
concentration, which makes him, take up positions that put him on the
back foot against very nimble strikers. Put Yobo up against the likes
of Adriano, Carlton Cole and other big men and he would look awesome
but against attackers like Tevez, Owen and Rooney, he has been found
wanting on many occasions.

Argentina has these
small nimble strikers in abundance. If he plays in the opening game he
will come up against Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguerro and
Gonzalo Higuain, who is not the biggest of strikers. The advice to the
team is Joseph Yobo should not be found dead making these players,
which must be the job of one of the two sitting mid-fielders. He can be
played as the libero, bringing the ball out of defence.

Apam Onyekachi is
believed to have better marking skills and is faster, and like he
showed in Beijing in 2008, he will not be fazed by the fact of facing
the classy Argentines.

Pressing mid-fielders

Here is certainly
the crux of the matter and the stature and deployment of personnel will
be key to slowing down the pacy Argentines. While Lawal likes the
hassling spirit of Sani Kaita, he has come to realise the need for the
physical bulk and experience of Dickson Etuhu of Fulham. Lawal said of
Etuhu:

“Watching the
1.90metres, 82kg hulking player in Fulham’s Europa Cup adventure to the
finals, the Nigerian player has shown that though he is not a box to
box mid-fielder, he is very tactically efficient. What he does may look
simple, guarding the defence and being the first line of attack -we
need all the tactically efficient players that we can find – just like
Inter Milan did to Barcelona.” In the UEFA Champions League, Thiago
Motta and Esteban Cambiasso were ingenious in denying space to Xavi
Hernandez and Lionel Messi. If Nigeria can do the same to Argentina,
then we could be singing for an unlikely win. Etuhu should be
complemented by another giant – Mikel Obi. Obi has more attacking flair
than the Fulham man so he can play in front of him. This is
presupposing that the Eagles play with two holding midfielders.

Sharp forwards

Samuel Eto’o, Diego
Milito and Goran Pandev always drove at the Barcelona defence in their
first leg match and the running and harassing of that defence led to
three goals. Every opportunity to score must be maximised for the
Eagles. We may not get too many chances against the Argentines but we
must convert the ones we get.

Lawal believes that
if the Eagles maximise most of the chances that comes their way,
Nigeria may just surprise the South Americans.

“Ik Uche, Chinedu
Obasi, Obafemi Martins and Osaze Odemwingie are blessed with pace,
trickery, intelligence and shot taking. These four must find a way to
synchronise their movements to always be positive. They must commit
their markers in driving for goal at every opportunity.” Manchester
United showed this format well in the 3-2 win over Bayern Munich in the
UEFA Champions League quarter final match at Old Trafford. Nani,
Antonio Valencia and Wayne Rooney were always moving and swapping
places. The defenders of Bayern including World Cup-bound Argentine,
Martin Demechelis were left flailing in the first quarter of that game
and United scored thrice in this phase of the game.

Victory over
Argentina is possible but it will require huge doses of commitment and
desire. All said and done, it will be down to the importance of
concentration and preparation, particularly mental readiness and the
desire to win that will ultimately enhance the Eagles’ chances in South
Africa.