As Nigeria’s Super Eagles prepare to face host nation Morocco in the semi-final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations today, the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, has delivered a powerful assessment of the team’s form, saying the current squad is playing football Nigeria has not seen in more than two decades.
Speaking during an interview with BBC News Pidgin, the traditional ruler said, “The way we have played these last four or five matches, I don’t know whether that’s because we don’t directly qualify for the World Cup one, there was so much disappointment and all that. We are the World Football since 1992, are the World Football steady. The best I have seen Super Eagles play, the years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, going into France 1998.”
The Olu said those years represented the peak of Nigerian football on the global stage. “We had five years that I believe Nigeria played the best football in the world, and after Denmark beat us in France 98, we started going down,” he said.
He recalled how Nigeria’s decline became more visible after the turn of the millennium, adding, “2000, where we hosted the Nations Cup, and we lost that penalty shootout, I think, but we didn’t win. That was now properly, in my mind though, Super Eagles now started dropping.”
According to him, signs of revival began to appear in recent years. “And we started showing signs two years ago when we got to the final of the Nations Cup,” he said, pointing to a gradual rebuilding of the national team.
The Olu believes that what Nigerians are witnessing now is something special. “As somebody who has been observing Super Eagles for a long time, these last four or five matches may be the best football I have seen Nigeria play in 26 years,” he said.
With Nigeria set to face tournament hosts Morocco in a high-pressure semi-final, he acknowledged the mental challenge but remained confident. “And if they carry that momentum to the game, yes, we are playing the host. I understand the psychological whatever,” he said.
