#22-Nigeria

#22-Nigeria
Nickname-Super Eagles
Confederation of African Football (CAF)
FIFA Ranking-#41
Group F (Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nigeria, Iran)
Projected Results...
Loss to Argentina
Loss to Bosnia
Win to Iran
Manager-Stephen Keshi
Qualified through victory in CAF playoff over Ethiopia 4-1 on aggregate
5th World Cup Appearance (1994, 1998, 2002, 2010)
Projected Finish-Third in Group F

Nigeria is enigmatic like most of the African teams in the tournament-so much quality, but not enough consistency.  Nigeria did well to qualify, since qualification in Africa is very difficult.  That being said, they need their star players to perform the way they're capable of doing so. I think Argentina is a lock for first place in the group, and Bosnia is pretty much a lock for second, but if Nigeria can get a result against Bosnia, and then beat Iran, then they could advance to the knockout stages.  Three big players for them:

Victor Moses-He has fallen a bit out of favor at Liverpool due to their incredible success in the English Premier League, but it's not really his fault because of how well the other players at the club have performed. Moses has 18 appearances with 6 goals for the national team.  He will need to score, as well as set up his fellow mates.

Victor Obinna and Emmanuel Emenike-Obinna plays in the Serie A in Italy for Chievo, and Emenike plays in the Turkish league for Fenerbahce, and both are forwards. The two will be so important to this team, as they will be depended upon for goals more than anyone.  At age 27, Obinna is in his prime with 48 appearances and 12 goals for Nigeria. Emenike is 26 years old, with 21 appearances and 9 goals. These two need to come ready to play consistently and counterattacking soccer.

I don't think Nigeria can put it all together to finish 2nd, but they won't finish below Iran, who are a pretty poor team.