I do have faint memories of two FIFA World Cups prior to my main FIFA experience. The 1986 and the 1990 FIFA World Cups. I will not have much to recollect about the two world cups due to firstly; young age and secondly; lack of adequate facilities to watch the games satisfactorily at the time. Being that in my country Nigeria there are areas which do not enjoy 24 hours supply of electricity (sadly, even after 32 years the situation remains the same), and not many homes got televisions to watch the games including mine.
1994 was the year, the year which my first FIFA World Cup experience will be shared.
It was in 1994 that i will complete my secondary school in science Bama. Science is a boarding School in Bama Local Government Area, some 60 kilometers away from the state capital Borno in North Eastern Nigeria. Incidentally, that same year is the year Nigeria will be participating in the FIFA World Cup for the first time. To add to that, my final exam time table was scheduled to commence in May and end in June 1994, June being the month that the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals will commence.
My heart was torn between my love for football and my quest for good grades. For me to have good grades, i will have to study hard without the distraction that the 1994 football tournament will bring. Many of you may wonder why such a young lady will be torn between his lives career and a game that will be played thousands of kilometers away in a foreign land. I must confess that it is easier said than done. Reason being that i was an active footballer at the time, playing for my school science Bama up to zonal levels and also playing for the schools basketball team right up to the state (Borno) Junior levels.
So being an active athlete at the time made it imperative for my naive mind that watching the games live together with my fellow sports mates is a must. In addition, my small mind could not fathom the idea that the stories of the encounters will be narrated to me second hand nor welcome the idea of watching the games a month after. I had prefer to do the watching and telling instead.
While i was studying for my upcoming exams and contemplating how to balance the FIFA World Cup that is in the offing, as the heavens will have it, a letter of notice came from the regional exam body WAEC (west African Examination Council) towards the end of the month of March, notifying the school through the State Education Board that the final Examination date for the year 1994 has been shifted backwards. This means that the final Examination will end mid June 1994, precisely 16 June, 1994 which is about a day before FIFA World Cup will kick off.
It was perfect timing, the best news and best gift anyone could give me at the time. To say that i was elated and overjoyed is an understatement, words could not express my state of euphoria then.
So mentally armed reinvigorated with the good news i carried my Bush Lamp and delved my head into my books. The conundrum of the FIFA World Cup became a distant picture at the horizon of my mind, it was no longer competing for a space nor was my heart torn between studies and FIFA World Cup.
I was through with my final exams by the 16 of June 1994 save for the school's routine clearance which will take a minimum of 3 days to accomplish baring other unforseen mishaps. By implication, it means that i will still be in school by the time the FIFA tournament commences. That of course is of no bother, because not far from my school is a viewing/cinema center where virtually all the sports fans within and from the surrounding communities will come to and pay a token in other to watch the entire 1994 FIFA World Cup finals live.
The first match of the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA was between the host country United States of America and Switzerland for which i did watched successful at the said viewing/cinema centre in Bama.
Fast forward to my most memorable match of the entire tournament.
Forgive me for being a bit quixotic if not a selfish Nigerian. To be quite frank, it was not the match between Nigeria and Bulgaria which the Nigerian team won fair and square was my most memorable, but the match between Argentina and Nigeria. I tagged it "bitter-sweet". It was bitter-sweet in the sense that despite Nigeria playing better than its opponent Argentina, Maradona, the man with the hand of god proved that he also has the passes and assists from the gods too. His two assists to his friend C. Caniggia produced two goals for Argentina who came from behind to win the match at the end of the day. In my opinion, the Nigerian squad for 1994 FIFA World Cup USA was the best ever because it was the most cohered team, filled up with national pride and ready to break a leg for in its quest for victory if you know what i mean.
Interestingly, that particular encounter has set a chain of matches between Nigeria and Argentina in virtually most of FIFA's football tournaments in the preceeding years, including the ongoing 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. Nigeria will still play Argentina. The question is, are these encounters coincidental or simply planned by the other hands of god of FIFA?
The 1994 FIFA World Cup tournament was a turning point for me in my personal approach and perspective towards football or any other sports for that matter. Sometimes, a team may have a collection of the best players and yet a team that is considered underdog, with seemingly unknown players will emerge victorious in the encounter. Scoring a goal or so at the beginning of a match is not sure victory yet until the final whistle is blown. Finally, i think luck plays a significant role in certain games as a result i no longer beat my head against the wall when i a team i support looses a match. That god of soccer may probably be using his unseeing hands in changing the fortunes of any game.
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