Africa Press-Nigeria:
Goal puts the two seminal triumphs of Nigerian football under the microscope and tries to determine which was better and had greater impact There have been two undeniable peaks in the history of Nigerian football, both of which essentially proved the making of whatever global reputation the country currently enjoys.
For all that it was not a maiden triumph, success at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations was even more significant than that of 1980 for a few reasons.
First off, there was the fact it was won on foreign soil, as opposed to 1980’s, which was hosted in Nigeria. The win in Tunisia had no overwhelming 12th man force propelling the team from the stands, rousing them beyond their own capabilities.
Almost as significantly, Afcon 1994 was a 12-team tournament as opposed to the eight-team 1980 tournament; one (knockout) game more to play in the pursuit of ultimate glory.
However, perhaps the biggest factor was in the composition of the teams themselves. The Super Eagles in 1994 was just so much more rounded, the product of a slow-burn approach to team building that had seen the team claim both silver and bronze before gold, whereas 1980 felt more like a bolt out of the blue with what came before and after.
Nigeria effectively parlayed that 1994 triumph into a top five Fifa ranking, a Round of 16 finish at that year’s World Cup and then, subsequently, the event that would represent a second peak.
