Flamboyant Nigerians catch eye

Five days into the World Cup and it continues to be an exciting tournament. After the promising starts of holders Brazil and host country France, it was the turn of such as Argentina, Nigeria and Yugoslavia to strut their stuff over the weekend.

I have no hesitation in naming Nigeria's 3-2 defeat of Spain in Nantes as the best game of the first round so far. Nigeria, quite frankly, were a breath of fresh air. I loved their attitude, their willingness to play football at all times and the fact that even after they had got back into the game a second time with their equaliser at 2-2, that they continued to go forward looking for and eventually scoring the winner.

If you look at the Nigerian squad list, you will see that nearly all the players are with leading European clubs - Ajax Amsterdam, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Real Sociedad, Betis Seville, Torpedo Moscow, Deportiva La Coruna, Monaco etc. The time is long gone when you could consider the Nigerians talented but inexperienced.

Being an African side, they are always going to concede something at the back and you will always fancy your chances of scoring against them. Yet, they have so much talent, they are sure to have a terrific World Cup while this opening win, coming after controversial preparations that included a 5-1 friendly defeat by Holland 10 days ago, will have done a lot for their confidence.

Remember, too, that they won on Saturday with players like Nwanko Kanu and Daniel Amokachi sitting on the bench. Kanu, by the way, could be back for the next game against Bulgaria.

As for Spain, I would not be too upset, if I were coach Javier Clemente. Had goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta not made that dreadful mistake to knock Garba Lawal's cross into his own net at 2-2, then I suspect Spain would have held on to win the game. I still think they can qualify for the next round, despite this poor start, because they are good enough to see off both Paraguay and Bulgaria, the other sides in Group D.

I would offer the same observation about both Holland and Belgium in Group E after their 0-0 draw at the Stade de France in Paris. Belgium will have come out of this game delighted with the result. Belgian coach George Leekens had clearly looked at this Group (Mexico and South Korea are the other two teams) and decided that to get into the second round, he needed a draw against Holland and could then go on to win the other two games.

His plan worked fine but I much preferred Holland. The Dutch went looking to win the game whereas the Belgians spent most of the night just trying to stop the opposition. At this level, if you go out determined just to stop the other team, you can nearly always pull it off but it does not make for entertaining football.

Holland, however, showed that they have some problems with regard to their ideal partner for Dennis Bergkamp. I was not impressed by either "Jimmy Floyd" Hasselbaink or Patrick Kluivert. The former looked unsure of himself and failed to fit in with those around him while Kluivert looks to me to have gone off badly by comparison with the player of two seasons ago. Perhaps his off-the-field problems - he was involved in a serious car accident in which someone was killed and he was also acquitted in a rape case - have not helped him.

I do think, though, that Kluivert was unlucky in his sending off. This was never a sending-off offence but the linesman (referee's assistant in modern FIFA-talk) was probably taken in by Lorenzo Staelens' Oscar-winning dive after Kluivert stuck in his elbow.

As for Argentina, all you can say is that they, like Brazil, France and Nigeria, have done the business correctly so far, namely they started with a win. Japan were an industrious little side and midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata impressed, yet I rate them a very, very limited team. I'd say they are headed for three straight defeats in their first World Cup finals appearance.

Argentina won the match, playing in third gear, just cruising and doing the necessary. Japan made a present of a goal to Gabriel Batistuta but he took it well, in the manner of the class player he is. All in all, Argentina will be pleased with their start as indeed will Yugoslavia, whose 1-0 win over Iran was another case of travelling in third gear. They too can, and probably will, do better.