The Super Eagles unfortunate exit at the World Cup staged in the United States in 1994 marked the beginning of the nation’s pedigree as a footballing nation in Africa and the rest of the world.
After the Nation Cup and the World Cup campaigns, the rest of the world saw Nigeria as a power house which drew the world’s attention to Africa.
The Green and White jersey was also upgraded as the new design was one of its kind in the country’s history of wearing the familiar color added with black.
NAIJ.com takes a tour on the significance of the jerseys that have been used by Super Eagles and the competitions they were used after the 94’ World Cup till the year 2006.
1. After 1994 World Cup
Four months after the impressive showing at US 94’, the Super Eagles team had a proposed friendly from the English national side which was their first ever meeting.
The outfit from the encounter was a Green top which had black around the neck and on the sleeves with white patterns on it. The jersey was launched in the epic encounter against the Three Lions.
Nigeria lost the match to a slim 0-1 defeat courtesy of captain David Platt’s header but Uche Okechukwu and crew gave a good account of themselves in front of the fans at the famous Wembley Stadium.
2. 1995 King Fahd Cup
The second edition of the King Fahd Cup which is now regarded as the Confederation Cup was staged in Saudi Arabia and being Champions of Africa, the Super Eagles had an automatic qualification.
Nigeria's kits across the ages.
READ ALSO: The evolution of Super Eagles' jerseys from 1980-1994
Nigeria came fourth after failing to top the group that comprises Argentina and Japan but lost out 5-6 on penalties to Mexico in the play-offs.
All through the competition the jersey worn by the Super Eagles was the white version of the kit used in the friendly match against England.
3. Atlanta 96’ Olympics
A new strip was introduced before the Atlanta 96’ Olympic Games for the national U-23 football team who qualified for the Men’s Football Event at the Games.
The Dream Team led by Bonfrere Jo wore the dominant green having a large white stripe in the middle as the home outfit while the away kit was the conspicuous white with a large green stripe in the middle.
For the first time in the history of the Olympics an African team won gold in football after several attempts in the past.
Atlanta 1996 squad. Photo: BBC
Nigeria won her second gold medal at the Games after conquering Mexico, Brazil and Argentina in the knock out stages to bag gold in the United States.
The same set of jerseys were used by the senior national side to play the France 98’ World Cup qualifiers and Nigeria sealed her place for the second straight time.
4. 1998 World Cup
It became clear that the country needed a new outfit for their campaign at the World Cup after using the jersey that won gold at Atlanta 96’ for the rigorous qualifiers played over a year period.
The Nigerian team was wearing a new look entirely with the all-green with white running from the neck down to the playing pants and the white version with green from the neck to the sleeves.
France 1998 Squad. Photo: Goal
Bora Milutinovic’s men wore the all-green in the victories against Spain and Bulgaria then mixed the green and white in the loss to Paraguay and used the same green in the embarrassing defeat to Denmark.
Meanwhile, the same France 98’ sportswear was used in all of Nigeria's matches at the 2000 Nations cup hosted by Ghana and Nigeria.
The Super Eagles were runners up after the nail biting defeat to eternal rivals, Cameroon on penalties.
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5. 2002 Nation Cup and World Cup qualifiers
As the road to Mali 2002 Nations Cup and the Japan/Korea 2002 World Cup qualifiers began, the Super Eagles wore a brand new look wearing the usual all green as home jersey and white as the away kit.
Nigerian players at Mali 2002 Nations cup. Photo: @NGSuperEagles
The late Shuaibu Amodu’s boys made their presence felt in the African tournament but did not go past the last four as they came home with bronze winning the third/fourth play offs against tournament hosts. However, a new star was born into the team in person of Julius Aghahowa that year.
The 2002 World Cup was a different story as the Super Eagles crashed out right from the group stages losing two matches to Argentina and Sweden then drawing their last encounter against England.
Super Eagles team at the 2002 World cup. Photo: @Thenff
The color of their jersey was a lemon shade of green because of the harsh weather conditions in Asia and the usual all-white as the second strip.
6. 2004 Nations Cup
The national team was going through a recess as the national team prepared for another quest to lift the 2004 Nations Cup in earnest.
Okocha at the 2004 Nations cup. Photo: BBC
The new outlook was a green on green strip with three lines close to the tip of the shirt and the shorts but the lines on the white jersey had black lines in the same pattern as the green.
Like the previous tournament in Mali, the Christian Chukwu side failed at the penultimate stage of the tournament losing to Tunisia as Nigeria won bronze for the third time asking.
7. 2006 Nations Cup and World Cup
Over the years, the Nigerian team has been seen as worthy contenders for any Africa Cup of Nations championships.
In Egypt 2006, the title was within the grasp of the Super Eagles but a Didier Drogba’s goal prevented the team from qualifying into the finals for the third straight time.
However, the Augustine Eguavoen team earned another third place finish with a 1-0 victory over Senegal to finish the tournament on a high.
Martins rocking Nigeria's jersey at 2006 Nations cup. Photo: @TheNFF
To compound the woes of the team, Angola made it through to the World Cup at the expense of Nigeria who finished ahead of the African Champions on head-to-head rule.
The Super Eagles had the usual green on green kits and the all whites in all of their 2006 competitive matches representing the two-time African Champions.
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Source: Sports.naija.ng
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