Nigeria = The Philadelphia Eagles

Midfielder Victor Moses. Can he lead Nigeria to the promised land?

QB Randall Cunningham, sporting a better looking uniform than what the Eagles wear now.

Nigeria wears green, and their nickname is the "Super Eagles." They've also shared their Philadelphia counterparts' propensity for disappointment and underachievement in recent years. The Philadelphia Eagles have consistently made the playoffs over the years. However, they've never won the Super Bowl and have only played in it twice, despite their long history, large market, and die-hard fan base. The Super Eagles have now qualified for 5 of the last 6 World Cups; but the farthest they've advanced is the round of 16, and they haven't even got that far since 1998. Similar to Mexico, they've been unable to capitalize on a massive population advantage despite little competition from other sports. Nigeria's population of more than 173 million is the largest in Africa, roughly double the 2nd largest (Egypt), and is the 3rd largest of countries who qualified for this World Cup (behind only the US and Brazil).

Both Eagles had successful 2013s that gave their notoriously skeptical fans reasons for optimism in 2014. Nigeria won the African Cup of Nations for the first time in nearly 2 decades, and Philadelphia won the NFC East in Chip Kelly's first season as coach. But then things got rocky (and not in the Balboa sense). The "Iggles" lost their first round playoff game to New Orleans and made the wrong kind of offseason headlines recently when they released Pro-Bowl receiver DeSean Jackson for unspecified off-the-field issues. Meanwhile, Nigeria looked poor in their pre-World Cup friendlies and stumbled to a 0-0 draw with lowly Iran in their first group match.

The Nigerian Eagles would feel super again if they defeat Bosnia today, a match that looked like the battle for 2nd place in Group F as soon as the draw was announced. A loss to the Dragons, however, would all but eliminate Nigeria; and even a draw puts them behind the 8 ball since they still have to face Argentina. Nigeria will likely go as far as Chelsea midfielders John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses can take them. Even if it doesn't work out for them this year, though, Nigeria's future looks promising. Only 3 outfield players in their team are older than 27.