Nigeria removes its selection

Rarely have decisions as drastic been made in modern football as the one he made. the nigerian government after the failure of the selection of his country in the South Africa World Cup 2010, in which Nigeria fell in the group stage after failing to beat Argentina, Greece or South Korea. The president of the country at that time, Goodluck Jonathan, decided to dissolve the national team in the absolute category for two years, with the aim of reorganizing the soccer project of the green eagles and approaching the future of Nigerian soccer differently after the poor results obtained in the World Cup.

Although the initiative sounded drastic and could be scandalous, it had the support of several of the country's soccer heavyweights. ACE could talk to Emmanuel Amunike, Nigerian ambassador in Spanish football after his time at the Barcelona and Albacete and member of the champion Olympic team in Atlanta 96'and that eliminated the Spanish team at the 98 World Cup in FranceOn the withdrawal of the national team from his country: “It is a surprising decision, but an understandable one. In 1990 it seemed that we were going to eat the world, but obviously we have regressed. And it is not just winning or losing, it is the image And Nigeria's in this World Cup has not been good. “

Of course FIFA was not going to allow one of the most powerful teams on the African continent to create such a wild precedent as the one proposed by the Government of Goodluk Jonathan and threatened to expel the Nigerian federation from the highest organization in world football. On July 5, just a few days after announcing the withdrawal of the absolute team, the decision was rectified.