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Let’s take a quick thrilling trip back to AFCON 1980. This was a time when Nigeria’s senior men’s football team were as determined as a lion fighting for his pride.

The Green Eagles

More than just a team of not-so-young men fighting for a place in football history books. They were brothers-in-arms, playing like their lives and the honour of their country depended on their eventual win.

After the Green Eagles won the country’s first African Nations Cup at the National Stadium in Lagos, Nigeria, for a time they enjoyed reverence from African countries for their remarkable display at the 1980 AFCON games. However, the win came at a great cost, and through the years no other Nigerian team has been able to match the price paid by the 1980 AFCON champions.

So great a team, no single player could take all the credit or make the team be referred to something like the 1986 Argentine World Cup winning team called Maradona and the 10 Robots; or Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese. This was a working team in all sense of the word.

Here’s why

Preparations for the 1980 Nations Cup began four years before the first qualifying match was ever played. The government was willing to sponsor the team to the farthest parts of the earth to train and gain world football experience.

Between the 1976 Nations Cup to the one Nigeria hosted four years later, the Green Eagles had travelled to several countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas training and playing friendly matches that would eventually tell them apart from every other African team.

The team once camped in Hennef in West Germany, which at the time was arguably the leading giants in the latest and best sporting facilities available across the globe.

The team also had no choice but to learn the hard way that time and tide wait for no man. Especially in nations where racism was at its peak, blacks were looked on as lesser primates. The only national team that accepted to play the Green Eagles was Bulgaria who thought it was a good opportunity to show the monkeys their place. The game ended 2-1 in Bulgaria’s favour. However, the Green Eagles proved themselves the better team despite their loss. 14-years later Rashidi Yekini and his teammates decimated Bulgaria 3-0 at the USA ’94 World Cup.

It was time to visit the football capital of the world, Brazil, for a three-month comprehensive training camp, a time the Eagles will never forget. Speaking about their time in Brazil, Segun Odegbami, the joint top-scorer at the 1980 Nations Cup with three goals said, “The level of football and the quality of players that we saw humbled us and made us work doubly hard to catch up. I realised for the first time the gulf that existed between football in South America and the rest of the world especially in Africa. We had rare opportunity to study the Brazilians closely, to watch their training methods, to play against many of their teams, and to watch many of their league matches. Many of us that went to Brazil came back to Nigeria totally different people. Brazil was a football education for me.”

AFCON 1980

The Green Eagles were ready for anything as they faced Africa’s best, with one team after another falling by the hands of Nigeria until the final day of the games on March 22, 1980. The Green Eagles exceedingly outclassed the Algerians, with Segun Odegbami scoring two first-half goals, in 2nd and 42nd minute. Ace midfielder Muda Lawal, who was playing as a striker struck the final blow in the 50th minute to seal the historic win for Nigeria.

Words may not be accurate enough to express just how proud the then president of the country, Shehu Shagari, and an audience of 100, 000 Nigerians who packed out the 60, 000 capacity National Stadium were when Nigeria lifted her first ever AFCON trophy after defeating Algeria 3-0.