Nigeria star blames sex for ruining incredible 1998 World Cu

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/w ... baad45446d

Nigeria is a modern-day powerhouse of African football – but that wasn’t always the case.
1994 saw the Super Eagles qualify for their first-ever World Cup, where they outperformed most expectations by managing to make it out of the group stage in the USA.

They beat Bulgaria and Greece, only narrowly lost 2-1 to Argentina, and went on to face Italy in the knockouts.

A 25th minute goal had them on the brink of the next stage, only for Roberto Baggio to famously take the game by the scruff of the neck with a late equaliser then the extra-time winner. It was a heartbreaking end to their maiden appearance.


Four years later, Nigeria returned to the world’s greatest stage, but were again serious underdogs. Ranked 74th in the world ahead of their arrival in France, the Super Eagles were a full 32 places further down the rankings than any other competitor in the expanded 32-team tournament.

Their group included Spain (boasting players like Raul, Sergi, and Luis Enrique), Paraguay (with Roberto Acuna and Carlos Gamarra) and Bulgaria (with the iconic Hristo Stoichkov, their hero in the 1994 World Cup).

Just like four years prior, few expected Nigeria to make it far in the tournament. Then they came from behind twice to stun Spain 3-2 in their opening match, and all bets were off.



Paraguay had drawn with Bulgaria. Six days after their opener, Nigeria would again claim victory with a 1-0 win over the Bulgarians.

When Paraguay drew 0-0 with Spain, Nigeria’s promotion to the Round of 16 was guaranteed with the final group game still to come.


The Nigerians adopted a rotation policy (both forced through suspensions and to rest players), which backfired when Paraguay scored early and went on to win 3-1. But by this stage, the Super Eagles were confident they could match it with the tournament’s more fancied opponents. Their confidence was high – and so was their popularity.

Many fans across the world enjoyed their aggressive, creative football on the pitch, featuring stars like Jay Jay Okocha – and their excess of character off it.

But their confidence and popularity became a curse, as defender Taribo West has now told Nigerian publication The Punch.

He says the players were tired after sleeping with fans the night before their Round of 16 clash with Denmark. The Super Eagles were a shadow of their former selves, and were summarily demolished 4-1.


“I read reports about Eagles visiting nightclubs and driving limousines during the World Cup in France (widespread rumours at the time), honestly I don’t know about that,” he said.

“But what I know is that some players sneaked women into camp, I saw that. The women were Africans who came to watch the tournament and fell in love with our team, because of the way we played in the group stage. So, it was easy for these players to woo them to their rooms.”

“That is why on match day, you could see a lot of the players didn’t have the strength to curtail the Danish players. They were tired after overworking themselves the night before with the women.”


“I was yelling at them on the pitch, I was very angry with them. They did all these because they thought we were going to beat Denmark.”

Denmark lost 3-2 to eventual finalists Brazil in the next round, before Zinedine Zidane scored two goals in the first half to set up a 3-0 win for France and claim the trophy on home soil.

Nigeria has since reached the World Cup in 2002, 2010, 2014, and 2018. But the Super Eagles have still not made it past the Round of 16.

[fledy]

Why all this crap now from these guys!!
Move on!!!

[Enugu II]

Why all this crap now from these guys!!
Move on!!!

Bros, the story sells. So why not???

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Tati I has turned into a Fake Pastor.

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

Tati I has turned into a Fake Pastor.

Nwanu is also now a pastor. He's releasing stories about juju and bribery in the team(s).

[TonyTheTigerKiller]

Utter rubbish. That Nigerian team was seriously decimated by injuries. They were good on paper but they just couldn’t bring it to the pitch. They used up whatever reserve they had against Spain and Bulgaria and were beaten by a sub standard Paraguayan team. They just had nothing left against Denmark


Cheers.

[Tobi17]

https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/w ... baad45446d

Nigeria is a modern-day powerhouse of African football – but that wasn’t always the case.
1994 saw the Super Eagles qualify for their first-ever World Cup, where they outperformed most expectations by managing to make it out of the group stage in the USA.

They beat Bulgaria and Greece, only narrowly lost 2-1 to Argentina, and went on to face Italy in the knockouts.

A 25th minute goal had them on the brink of the next stage, only for Roberto Baggio to famously take the game by the scruff of the neck with a late equaliser then the extra-time winner. It was a heartbreaking end to their maiden appearance.


Four years later, Nigeria returned to the world’s greatest stage, but were again serious underdogs. Ranked 74th in the world ahead of their arrival in France, the Super Eagles were a full 32 places further down the rankings than any other competitor in the expanded 32-team tournament.

Their group included Spain (boasting players like Raul, Sergi, and Luis Enrique), Paraguay (with Roberto Acuna and Carlos Gamarra) and Bulgaria (with the iconic Hristo Stoichkov, their hero in the 1994 World Cup).

Just like four years prior, few expected Nigeria to make it far in the tournament. Then they came from behind twice to stun Spain 3-2 in their opening match, and all bets were off.



Paraguay had drawn with Bulgaria. Six days after their opener, Nigeria would again claim victory with a 1-0 win over the Bulgarians.

When Paraguay drew 0-0 with Spain, Nigeria’s promotion to the Round of 16 was guaranteed with the final group game still to come.


The Nigerians adopted a rotation policy (both forced through suspensions and to rest players), which backfired when Paraguay scored early and went on to win 3-1. But by this stage, the Super Eagles were confident they could match it with the tournament’s more fancied opponents. Their confidence was high – and so was their popularity.

Many fans across the world enjoyed their aggressive, creative football on the pitch, featuring stars like Jay Jay Okocha – and their excess of character off it.

But their confidence and popularity became a curse, as defender Taribo West has now told Nigerian publication The Punch.

He says the players were tired after sleeping with fans the night before their Round of 16 clash with Denmark. The Super Eagles were a shadow of their former selves, and were summarily demolished 4-1.


“I read reports about Eagles visiting nightclubs and driving limousines during the World Cup in France (widespread rumours at the time), honestly I don’t know about that,” he said.

“But what I know is that some players sneaked women into camp, I saw that. The women were Africans who came to watch the tournament and fell in love with our team, because of the way we played in the group stage. So, it was easy for these players to woo them to their rooms.”

“That is why on match day, you could see a lot of the players didn’t have the strength to curtail the Danish players. They were tired after overworking themselves the night before with the women.”


“I was yelling at them on the pitch, I was very angry with them. They did all these because they thought we were going to beat Denmark.”

Denmark lost 3-2 to eventual finalists Brazil in the next round, before Zinedine Zidane scored two goals in the first half to set up a 3-0 win for France and claim the trophy on home soil.

Nigeria has since reached the World Cup in 2002, 2010, 2014, and 2018. But the Super Eagles have still not made it past the Round of 16.

[mystic]

Why all this crap now from these guys!!
Move on!!!

Bros, the story sells. So why not???

If I recall correctly, this was reported by one or two news outlets at the time.

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

Why all this crap now from these guys!!
Move on!!!

Bros, the story sells. So why not???

If I recall correctly, this was reported by one or two news outlets at the time.

i think so too. I think some folks who went to France also alluded to this

[wiseone]

Staying up night to row with the NFF over bonuses (again!) and refusing to train, probably did not help either.

[joao]

Against Denmark, the SE displayed the worst kind of team discipline any coach can imagine.
Bora Milutinović merely obliged an FA and players, all lacking organization and focus.
One can tell, as Bora never like discussing the assignment, or set foot in Nigeria after that disgraceful outing.