There was an irony in the qualification phase of the 1998 World Cup. Czech Republic, ranked third in the world, failed to qualify, yet Nigeria, who had fallen from fifth position before USA ‘94, to 74th and lowest, made it to France. Moreover, the Super Eagles were thumped 4-1 by the Netherlands in a pre-World Cup friendly and were easily the underdogs against Spain, who were Pele’s favourite team for the World Cup. But Bora Milutinović’s men proved that sometimes rankings are just on paper. Actually, it was political intervention that had derailed Nigerian football. In 1996, SaniAbacha had ba…