Nigeria aim to make history at the 2018 World Cup by becoming the first African team ever to reach the semi-finals.
The three-time African champions have reached the Round of 16 on three of their five World Cup appearances.
"All efforts we are building now are geared towards
getting Nigeria to play the semi-finals in Russia," Amaju Pinnick, the
Nigeria Football Federation president, told BBC Sport.
"We have the manpower to do that. The talent in Nigeria is amazing."
Pinnick's comments might come as a surprise given
Nigeria failed to qualify for this year's Africa Cup of Nations
in Equatorial Guinea.
Two years ago they won the title
but their decline has been brought about by a mixture of turmoil
within the NFF, the sacking and rehiring of coach Stephen Keshi and
threats of Fifa bans for government interference in football matters.
Nonetheless, Pinnick, who
assumed control of Nigerian football last September
following protracted elections, lists a number of reasons why
Africa's largest country - with a population of 170m people - can
finally deliver at the World Cup.
Keshi (centre) is back in charge and must motivate the players after a disappointing spell
He believes technology, 'capacity-building' for coach
Keshi, a better local league, the country's natural ability and enhanced
administration can provide the platform for significant growth.
The NFF boss travelled to London this week with five staff to belatedly tap into long-standing technological applications.
"Our coaches can be technically sound but
technologically they were inept, because football for me is driven more
by technology than anything else," said Pinnick.
"We are in the process of acquiring match analysis
software, so that when we go back home, we won't play our matches
blindly. We are starting late but we are getting it right - that's the
most important point.
"We now have the match analysis software that can
analyse games for us and give us directions because normally we play
matches without knowing our opponents nor their strengths and
weaknesses.
"If we had used match analysis, we would have beaten France and got to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2014."
Pinnick is now hoping another Frenchman, Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger, can push Keshi to greater heights.
"We've had a word and Arsene will be ready to take him
in sometime in July," said Pinnick, who formerly headed up the regional
Delta State Football Association.
"We are also looking at talking to other Premier League
clubs and clubs in Germany to look at the various techniques - to see
how we can grow and put these techniques into play whenever Keshi is
playing a game."
The NFF's decision to
reappoint Keshi as coach
was a controversial one, with many fans having demanded his exit
after South Africa and Congo qualified for the 2015 Nations Cup above
them.
"Some guy called me and said 'we'll do this to you if
you don't get Keshi out' while another guy said 'he's a hero and one of
only two men to win the Nations Cup as a player and a coach," said
Pinnick.
He also said a shortage of funds prevented Nigerian
from aiming for a top-quality coach, with the NFF's long-term ambitions
set very high.
"The truth is we don't live in the clouds. We are not
just going to get any foreign manager - we're going to get a foreign
manager in the mode of maybe a Wenger or a Jose Mourinho.
"That costs money and right now, we don't have that kind of money."
Pinnick also pointed to Keshi's success with local
players, six of whom formed part of the 2013 Nations Cup squad (the most
in over two decades). One of them, Sunday Mba, scored the winner in the
final itself.
"Keshi is an apostle of the local players so we decided
to say 'ok, let's see how we can build his capacity and use the
technical study group'."
Jay-Jay Okocha heads the technical study group, with Victor Ikpeba, Nwankwo Kanu and Taribo West also involved.
"These ex-players have played under some of the best
coaches in the world. So if you put all this together with our technical
committee and technical director, coupled with our match anaylsis
technique, we don't think we'll go wrong," added Pinnick.
"We think the combination is better than any foreign
coach. That doesn't mean that if he falters tomorrow, we aren't going to
get a manager who can take us to our perceived El Dorado.
"If we don't get to the World Cup semi-finals, we'll get very close I can assure you."
