The final list of the 2010 World Cup must have been divinely designed to favour some countries including Nigeria. On paper Nigeria could not have had it any better or easier. That’s not to say there are any easy matches in the World Cup. The draws have thrown up perhaps the most open World Cup in a long time. Except for the group that pitched Brazil, Portugal and Cote D’Ivoire together into the ‘group of death’, every other group provides a fair balance of the teams based on their strengths. I look at Group B that includes Nigeria and I see a possible clear passage to the second round! There is Argentina, old and familiar foes that have always struggled against Nigeria and have also not been doing well at all throughout the qualifying rounds, only managing to scrape through qualification. There is Greece, a strong team but quite within Nigeria’s range to defeat most of the time, South Korea, definitely a shade below Nigeria in terms of strength, achievement and players! But all of that is on surface reflection. A closer look reveals Nigeria’s soft underbelly. The World Cup is not the qualifying series. This is a different ball game entirely with a different character and complexion. At this level consistency and team tactics predominate. Teams have to be well organised to sustain good performances from match to match. Every tackle, every foul committed, every set piece, every little infringement at this level makes a difference! Coaches microscopically comb through opposing teams and exploit their perceived weaknesses. Players have to lift their game to a higher level that usual in order to do well. Coaches have to be at their wits best to get results. Chief Onigbinde in 2002 at the Korea/Japan World Cup found that out the hard way when his team that had played several friendly matches during preparations and won most suddenly found themselves lost at sea when the championship started. The Super Eagles were dismembered completely by opposing teams that revealed the team’s tactical and organisational naivety. The team committed simple elementary blunders that were punished. Before we knew it the Eagles were out and on their way back home. That kind of standard is not found playing African teams in the qualifying series, that’s why the World Cup stage is a completely different setting.