Good performance by Nigerian football in 2013

The team built on that momentum to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil later in the year. Successes were also recorded at junior level as the U-20 team, the Flying Eagles qualified for the World Cup after finishing in third place at the African Youth Championships in Algeria. The biggest winners […]

The team built on that momentum to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil later in the year. Successes were also recorded at junior level as the U-20 team, the Flying Eagles qualified for the World Cup after finishing in third place at the African Youth Championships in Algeria. The biggest winners were the U-17 team following the team’s dominant display at the World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Astonishingly, the all-conquering Golden Eaglets did not win the African title as they came up short in the final against the Ivory Coast, a side they lost to via penalties.
January 
Nigeria started the year on a good note, as the Super Eagles dominated the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa to lift her third African title, but before then, Nigerians were left to contemplate a blackout of the matches on terrestrial television.
The Super Eagles began their quest for their third AFCON title following successes in 1980 and 1994.
The Super Eagles started in unconvincing fashion with a 1-1 draw against Burkina Faso-the team they would go on to meet in the final-in Mbombela on January 21.
Another draw against champions, Zambia four days later did little to raise the spirits of the home faithful before a nervy 2-0 win against lowly Ethiopia in the team’s final preliminary game temporarily quelled dissenting voices.
All the while, there were rumours of infighting, player unrest and officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) moving towards a collision path with the head coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi.
 February 
The furore generated by the conflict over Broadcast rights in January was eventually doused this month.
A deal was eventually struck and the final was beamed live to millions of Nigerians.
It was quite as well because the Super Eagles surprised many by emerging champions at the 2013 AFCON in South Africa despite their slow start to the competition.
Finishing in second place in Group C meant the Super Eagles would have to face the star-studded Ivory Coast inspired by Chelsea legend, Didier Legend.
The Nigerians however showed no fear as they played arguably their best game of the tournament to topple the Ivoirians before proceeding to thrash Mali 4-1 in the semi finals.
A nervy 1-0 win over Burkina Faso was recorded in the final at the National Stadium, Johannesburg on February 10.
A day after leading the Super Eagles to the tile, Keshi did the unthinkable and tendered his resignation.
He told Robert Marawa on Metro FM that: “I did what I feel is right by resigning. I gave the NFF a letter last night [Sunday, February 10] after the celebrations.”
Keshi was never going to be allowed to leave. The Presidency intervened and his resignation was rescinded.
March 
Nigeria was drawn in Group B of the African U-20 championship alongside Mali, Gabon and Congo DR and as always, hopes were high that the Flying Eagles would emerge victorious in the competition held in Algeria.
John Obuh’s wards finished as runners up in the group behind Mali to set up a semi final showdown with Egypt in Aïn Témouchent.
The Young Pharaohs comprehensively outclassed the Flying Eagles 2-0 but the minimum requirement-a ticket to the U-20 World Cup finals in Turkey-had already been achieved.
A 2-1 win over Mali in the third place game did little to calm frayed nerves but Obuh and his youngsters would have another chance to redeem themselves at the World Cup later in the year.
The Super Eagles also resumed their quest to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil as the penultimate round of qualifiers entered match day three across the African continent.
A lackluster performance against Kenya almost ended in disaster until Nnamdi Oduamadi pinched a last minute equalizer against the Harambee Stars in the 1-1 draw at the UJ Esuene Stadium, Calabar.
The Super Eagles would need to improve rapidly if they were to make it to Brazil.
April 
There was depressing news for Nigerian champions, Kano Pillars as they crashed out of the Caf Champions League after drawing 4-4 over two legs with Congolese club, AC Leopards.
Pillars won the first leg by a crushing 4-1 score but capitulated badly in the second leg as they crashed out on the away goals rule after a 0-3 defeat to the Leopards at the Stade Denis Sassou Nguesso, Dolisie.
The country’s second representatives in the competition, Enugu Rangers had better luck in the second round, overcoming Burundian club, Vital’O 2-0 over two legs.
Nigeria’s U-17 footballers arrived in Morocco for the African U-17 championship and hopes were high of success with Manu Garba assembling a hugely talented squad.
Nigeria however courted controversy shortly before the tournament as three players that were supposed to play in the tournament, Wilfred Ndidi, Ibrahim Abdullahi and Emmanuel Asadu failed Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests which meant that they were ineligible to compete.
The Golden Eagles overcame this setback as they began the tournament on a flyer; storming to the top of Group B on the back of two huge wins against Ghana and Congo in which the side scored 13 goals and conceded just one.
Two players, Success Isaac and Kelechi Iheanacho stood out from the bunch of talented Nigerian youngsters as they scored four goals apiece in the group stages.
A routine 4-2 win over Tunisia in the semi finals set up a final date with the only side that had defeated the high-flying Eaglets in the tournament, the Ivory Coast.
The game ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time which meant the trophy would be decided via the lottery of penalties.
Chidiebere Nwakali was the unfortunate one to miss from 12 yards durimg the shoot out as the Ivoirians celebrated an unlikely triumph.
In the CAF Confederations Cup, Lobi Stars were scandalously beaten 7-1 by Mozambican club, Liga Muçulmana in the second leg of their first round clash.
Lobi Stars had won the first leg 3-1 but it was rendered purely academic following the heavy beating they suffered in the return fixture in Matola.
The country’s other flag bearer, Heartland also failed to advance to the second round in very dramatic circumstances.
Heartland defeated Gabonese club, US Bitam 2-1 in the first leg of their first round encounter at the Dan Anyiam stadium, Owerri.
Financial problems astonishingly meant the Nigerian Cup champions failed to travel on time to Gabon for the return fixture.
They were duly walked over by the gleeful Gabonese and the Naze Millionaires’ aspirations of becoming the first Nigerian club to win the Caf Confederation Cup went out like a light.
May
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) decided to throw out Sharks and Dolphins, representatives of Rivers State in the 2013 Federation Cup out of the oldest football competition in the country.
A release made available to supersort.com by the NFF made it clear that both clubs would be barred from taking part as the Rivers State Football association (home federation of the two clubs) did not adhere to the regulations regarding the preliminaries of the competition.
“The 2013 preliminary matches of the Federation Cup were officiated by unqualified /registered referees. This therefore means that no preliminary matches were played in the state in accordance with the rules and regulations governing the competition,” the release signed by Mohammed Sanusi, Director of competitions NFF organizing committee read.
The NFF remarkably made a dramatic detour from its earlier decision a few days later following a hastily launched appeal by the Rivers State Football Association.
The NFF ruled then ruled that matches in the 2013 Rivers State Federation Cup be replayed from the semi final stages with the finalists expected to be accommodated in the draws of the 2013 Federation Cup.
A fine of N500,000.00 (about $3,164 USD) was paid by the Rivers FA before the round of 64 stages of the national competition.
Nigeria’s underwhelming display in continental competition was underlined with Enugu Rangers crashing out of the CAF Champions League in the second round following a 1-3 aggregate loss to Angolan club, Recreativo de Libolo.
Rangers would however have a chance to redeem themselves on the continent as they dropped down to the second-tier Caf Confederation Cup.
 June 
The Super Eagles continued in their quest to reach the 2014 Fifa World Cup finals in Brazil with two successive away fixtures in a space of eight days against Kenya in Nairobi and Namibia in Windhoek.
A 1-0 win in Nairobi and a 1-1 draw in Windhoek set the tone for the team’s expedition to Brazil where they were billed to compete at the FIFA Confederations Cup.
The team’s participation in the tournament however hung by a thread as the players initially refused to travel to Brazil following a row with the NFF over bonuses.
For the second time in four months, intervention from external sources saved the day as Nigerian football returned to the dark ages.
At the tournament in Brazil, a 6-1 opening day win over Tahiti in the Eagles’ first preliminary game raised hopes of unlikely success before subsequent defeats to Uruguay and Spain put the West Africans firmly in their place.
In the CAF Confederation Cup, Enugu Rangers defeated Tunisian club, CS Sfaxien 1-0 over two legs in the playoffs to advance to the group stages of the competition but that was not the end of the story.
Nigeria’s U-20 team, the Flying Eagles commenced their World Cup campaign in Turkey and knew they had their work cut out against Portugal, South Korea and Cuba in Group B.
An opening day 2-3 loss to Portugal briefly raised spirits especially with skipper, Abduljelil Ajagun impressing and netting a brace against the Iberians in Kayseri.
Straightforward wins over Cuba and South Korea meant the Flying Eagles finished as runners up in the Group behind the powerful Portuguese that stunned them in their opening fixture.