Dream Team IV are a bundle of contradiction. The ‘worst’ players in the team create or score the vital goals.  The most reliable players commit the most elementary blunders and sometimes concede the cheapest goals! The team plays well for 85 minutes against a team one man short and then fumbles through the last 5 minutes. They struggle when they should be on the driving seat. They score goals when you least expect and usually against the run of play. They may play disjointedly most times, but are dangerous all the time. They don’t have really outstanding players but they are a rock solid team with players that have everything in small doses – speed, power and sublime skills. They play for each other but mostly for their coach who has held them together through thick and thin these past 4 years and turned them into a fighting machine! They run endlessly and cover every blade of grass. They fight and make life very difficult for every opposition with their speed and athleticism. They fight for every ball and play with grit and determination! They are their own greatest motivator!

They may not have played the most attractive football but they have given audiences some of the most exciting moments! No one can predict them. They are most dangerous when they are not playing well. They create chances from nothing and even when you think they are down, they suddenly rise again!

As they deservedly progress to the quarter-final stage none can predict how far they can go. They can go all the way and they can be halted in the next match. Either way no one would be shocked or surprised! They give Nigerians ecstasy and high-blood pressure in equal doses in the course of a single match.

But all said and done, Nigerians believe in them and hope they will go all the way, as it is appearing more and more that in Dream Team IV lies Nigeria’s only hope of a redeeming Gold medal from Beijing!