Lagos — Nigeria used to be the last country in the list of top salary paying countries for the coaches of South Africa 2010 World Cup, back in the days of Shaibu Amodu.

As the national team coach of the Super Eagles, Amodu made the rear at number 32, below the coach of North Korea, Kim Jong Hun. But now with his departure, and the arrival of Swede, Lars Lagerback, the Super Eagles are back at the to- five point of the table of high paying teams of the world.

With Lagerback earning a total package of $1.3m for the six months that his contract would endure, this means his annual pay package would be $2.6m if he were to stay on for one full year. In the same token, this means Nigeria now rakes in at the number four position in the list of high-salary payers among the 32 teams converging in South Africa in June.

Also, the arrival of Lagerback means South Africa coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira is no longer the top earner of the coaches of Africa that are in the Finals of the World Cup. The returnee Bafana Bafana coach, who used to weigh in at the number nine position with his annual pay packet of $1.636m, is now at number ten with the arrival of Lagerback, whose $2.6m take home per annum, dwarfs his.

The breakdown of the list shows England's Fabio 'The Don' Capello as the highest paid of the 32 coaches of the World Cup Finals, while Pim Verbeek of Australia is the highest paid in mainland Asia and Oceania. Javier Aguirre, the coach of Mexico is the highest-paid in the American continent.

In topping the list, Capello's $12m annual take home dwarfs that of the nearest man to him, another Italian, Marcelo Lippi, coach of Italy national team, the Azzurris.

Given that Lagerback now weighs in at the top four position, perhaps it is good reasons for Nigerians to expect to get a semi final ticket at the summer tournament. After all, a semifinal slot means being number four - in the very least of it - in the world, just as their coach would be the fourth best paid person in the tournament.