Would Nigeria have won the World Cup in
1994 had they gone past eventual finalists
Italy in a Round of 16 clash?
However, what was not in question was that
Nigeria were only two minutes away from
reaching the quarterfinals of the 1994 World
Cup, before Italy drew level and went on to
beat the Super Eagles 2-1.
Indecision in the Nigeria defence let in Roberto
Baggio to bring Italy back from the dead
courtesy of an 88th equaliser after Emmanuel
Amuneke had given Nigeria a 25th minute
lead.
“It took something out of us psychologically,”
said Finidi of the goal.
And in extra time, it was Baggio who again
who proved the difference as he fired the
winner in the 102nd minute from the penalty
spot.
“The World Cup begins now, not just for
myself but for Italy,” hailed a relieved Baggio.
Italy will then go all the way to reach the final,
where they lost to Brazil on penalties.
For Nigeria, it was a case of what could have
been.
And 19 years after, their outing in the US still
remains the highlight of their World Cup
participation.
The Super Eagles had won a second Africa
Cup of Nations in Tunisia in 1994 and so
expectations were very high when they took on
the world a few months later in the USA.
And they got off to a flying start with a 3-0
thrashing of Bulgaria in the opening game
with goals from Rashidi Yekini, Daniel
Amokachi and Emmanuel Amuneke.
Argentina, led by skipper Diego Maradona,
exploited the slack defending of the Eagles in
their next game to run away 2-1 winners, but
not before Samson Siasia conjured a sublime
goal.
Nigeria then beat Greece 2-0 to finish top of
their group ahead of Bulgaria and Argentina.
Naive defending and the fact that Yekini, the
team’s leading scorer in the qualifiers,
struggled on this stage combined to cut short
Nigeria’s flight at their debut World Cup.
But they were daring when going forward with
Finidi George dashing down the right wing and
Emmanuel Amuneke on the left to provide
service for Yekini, Amokachi and Siasia.
It was an attacking brand of football that won
them ‘The most entertaining team of the
World Cup’, that many, many years later many
are still wondering what would have been had
they not let themselves down in the dying
minutes against Italy.