■ Faces Cameroon, Algeria, Zambia
BY JOE APU
THE Super Eagles of Nigeria are in for a battle of its life to reach the finals of the Russia 2018 World Cup following the draws for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers for African countries held in Cairo, Egypt on Friday evening.
Nigeria has been grouped alongside Algeria in Group B of the African qualifying zone draw alongside Cameroun and Zambia for the right to play at the World Cup for the sixth time.
Three-time African champions, Nigeria in pot two and knew they would meet a ‘power house’ from pot one with Algeria coming out from that pot.
Cameroun was the country drawn from pot three in Nigeria’s group while pot four supplied Zambia as the final group opponents for the Super Eagles.
Nigeria first reached the World Cup finals in 1994 in the United States where the Super Eagles produced some spectacular performances to reach the second round where they were knocked out by Italy.
The Super Eagles qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France where they also reached the second round.
In 2002 and 2010, Super Eagles sides, largely in transition failed to progress past the group stages.
Managed by legendary coach, Stephen Keshi, Nigeria qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup where the team reached the second round and lost to France.
For Nigeria to qualify for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia, the Super Eagles must outsmart former African champions, Algeria, Cameroun and Zambia.
The teams that finish tops of the five groups qualify for the Russia 2018 World Cup.
“It is a tough draw, but then I have always said that you have to beat the best to get to the World Cup. Now we have the draw, we know how to prepare. The preparation has to start right now and we must make good use of every single day leading to the kick –off of the series.
“The other pools are tough as well, because for me, you can never afford to under –rate any team these days. Now we must quickly sort out the issue of Head Coach and his assistants and put every other thing in place in good time,” NFF president Amaju Pinnick said.
Group A:
Libya, Tunisia, DR Congo, Guinea.
Group B:
Zambia, Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria
Group C:
Gabon, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco.
Group D:
Senegal, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde Island.
Group E:
Ghana, Egypt, Congo, Uganda.