Nigerian Football
NIKE UNVEILS SUPER EAGLES’ WORLD CUP KIT IN LONDON
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria’s contribution to World Cup fashion will be on parade next month in London when leading kit manufacturers, Nike formally unveils the Super Eagles’ kit to the Russia World Cup will be unveiled. The unveiling will be on February 7.
The World Cup 2018 will be the third time that the Super Eagles will be in Nike kit. The first time the team put on Nike kit was at the France 1998 World Cup while the second was at the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup.
Nigeria put on the strip at the Africa Cup of Nations co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana in 2000.
The 1998 Nigerian home kit
The 1998 Nigerian away kit
The France 1998 Super Eagles kit was first worn on April 22, 1998 in a friendly match with Germany in Cologne. The home kit was in green with white shoulder stripe outlined with darker shade of green. The away variation was largely white with light and dark green stripes.
The away shirt was first won by Nigeria on October 4, 1998 when Nigeria faced Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou in the qualifying duel for the 2000 Africa Nations Cup originally meant for Zambia before the rights were revoked.
The Nigerian team line up in the June 2, 2002 match with Argentina. Nigeria last wore this shirt in the June 12, 2002 match with England.
The Nigerian team line up in the June 7, 2002 match with Sweden.
The April 1998 Super Eagles kit was replaced on April 17, 2002 when Nigeria faced Scotland in a pre World Cup friendly match in Aberdeen.
This time, the shade of green was different from what the Nigerian team had been used to since January 1, 1960 that Nigeria first wore green shirts during a Rome 1960 Olympic Games qualifiers in Cairo, Egypt.
This time, it was lemon green for the home strip. The kit featured Dri-Fit technology to keep players drier and cooler during play. That was achieved by drawing sweat away from the body to the fabric’s surface for fast drying.
There was also an ergonomic mesh on the back to allow the body continue to breathe and cool itself. The kit was last worn on June 12, 2002 when the Super Eagles played goalless draw with England in Osaka, Japan.
The shirt worn by Nigeria in the November 2017 matches with Algeria and Argentina.
Since the return of Nike in 2015 as Nigeria’s kit supplier, there had been many variations of kits supplied. The latest was the one the Super Eagles wore on their last match day for the Russia 2018 qualifying series.
The same shirt was worn in the 4-2 defeat of Argentina at Krasnodar last November. It had a darker shade of green on the shoulder and the sleeve.
The miserable run of Akwa United and Ikorodu City came to an end after six games in the Nigerian Premier League this season. Both teams were initially glued at the bottom of the league table.
They now got respite as Akwa United beat Kano Pillar by 2-0 while Ikorodu City even did what could be considered an upset, beating Bendel Insurance 3-0.
Remo Stars bounced back to the top of the log after a 3-0 defeat of Nasarawa United. Shooting Stars are yet to get their rhythm this season, playing a barren draw with Enyimba in Ibadan.
Kwara United who got their first full points of the season last week after a 1-0 defeat of Remo Stars could not consolidate as they were beaten 1-0 by Abia Warriors.
Heartland under Emmanuel Amuneke are gradually recovering as they got a valuable away draw against El-Kanemi Warriors.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
It is 75 years since Nigeria’s national football team first played an international match. That was on 8 October 1949 when the first set of Nigeria’s assembly on their return voyage stopped over in Freetown and engaged Sierra Leone in an international football match. Nigeria won 2-0, setting a chain of positive results on 8 October.
The country never lost any competitive duel on that date. More significantly, the Super Eagles first qualified for the World Cup on an 8 October date.
That was in 1993 when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Algeria in the quest for USA ‘94 World Cup.
Nigeria became the first English-speaking African country to qualify for the World Cup. Another significance of the October 8 match at the July 5 Stadium, Algiers is that Nigeria were unbeaten for the first time by Algeria at home.
The only deviation from the 8 October Magic was in 2015 when Nigeria lost 2-0 to Congo in a friendly match.
Twenty-six years after Nigeria’s debut international match, one of Africa’s biggest football nations, Egypt fell to the October 8 magic, losing 4-0 to Nigeria in the last stage of the triangular World Cup qualifying series for Argentina ’78.
Up till October 15, 2013, when Ghana beat Egypt 6-1 in Kumasi, the October 8, 1977 duel with Nigeria remained Egypt’s biggest loss in a World Cup qualifying match.
Before the 1977 duel, Nigeria in 1963 played a friendly match with Liberia in Monrovia. The October 8 magic was active, even in an away match. Nigeria drew 2-2 in their very first encounter with Liberia. It was shortly after the team had, through a protest, upturned a victory by Guinea to pick Nigeria’s very first African Nations’ Cup ticket.
Little wonder then that when FIFA suspended Nigeria in 2010, the world governing body provisionally lifted the ban on October 8!
Nigeria on 8 October
- 1949 – Freetown (Friendly) Sierra Leone 0-2 Nigeria
- 1963 – Monrovia (Friendly) Liberia 2-2 Nigeria
- 1977 – Lagos (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 4-0 Egypt
- 1993 – Algiers (World Cup qualifier) Algeria 1-1 Nigeria… qualify for USA ‘94.
- 2005 – Abuja (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 5-1 Zimbabwe
- 2010 – FIFA, in apparent respect to the 8 October magic, provisionally lifted a ban imposed on Nigeria.
- 2011 – Abuja (African Nations Cup qualifier) Nigeria 2-2 Guinea. Although undefeated, Nigeria failed to make it to the 2012 African Nations Cup.
- 2015 – D.R. Congo beat Nigeria 2-0 in Visé, Belgium. The ‘October 8 Magic’ is finally broken.
Rivers United have launched themselves to the top of the log at the end of the match day 5 of the Nigeria Premier League. The Port Harcourt side beat Akwa United 2-1 to go afloat after initial leaders, Remo Stars crumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Kwara United in Ilorin on Sunday.
It was Remo Stars’ first defeat in the season. Rivers United are now with 13 points. Stephen Mayo put Rivers United ahead after 31 minutes. But it turned a temporary lead as Akwa United bounced back almost at the blast of the referee’s whistle for the second half.
Friday Apollos levelled up for Akwa United before Ndifreke Effiong Udo scored the winner in the 85th minute.
Sunday Results
- Kwara United 1-0 Remo Stars
- Rangers International 1-0 Abia Warriors
- Heartland FC 2-0 Niger Tornadoes
- Kano Pillars 2-0 Sunshine Stars
- Plateau United 1-0 Ikorodu City
- Rivers United 2-1 Akwa United
- Enyimba 3-0 Katsina United* Suspended
- Nasarawa 0-0 Bayelsa United
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