Of these teams Argentina has been a perpetual nemesis. The rivalry was re-started in 2005 when Nigeria met Argentina in the finals of the U-20 FIFA World Youth Championship. Lionel Messi has generally had his way with Nigeria and the harassing defenders that Nigeria throws his way (2 penalty kicks so far and innumerable freekicks). Our record against Argentina has not been good in recent memory. To defeat Argentina, Nigeria will need Ike Uche, Obafemi Martins, Mikel Obi and Taye Taiwo on the field at the same time. God help us!
South Korea will be problematic for Nigeria. In 2005 Nigeria LOST against the South Koreans at the 2005 World Youth Championship in Holland. Chu Young Park proved to be troublemaker scoring in the 89th minute ... a late South Korean goal in extra time saw Nigeria losing this game. So what we can take from this game is that the South Koreans will fight until the final whistle is blown. With the pedestrian performances of the Super Eagles, this is not encouraging news!
We should also remember that in February 2007, South Korea defeated Greece 1-0 in an international friendly played in England. In this game Lee Chun-Soo scored the only goal, South Korea won!
Greece could be an enigma. Nigeria last played Greece in 1994. Greek soccer is very different since that time. Greece won the European Championship in 2004 and are known for highly defensive football. This is a game that Nigeria has to tackle head on ... it could be a roll of the dice.
xxx
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