While Europe will pass straight into the grip of the Euro 2016, Africa, and specifically Nigeria, have a season's worth of evidence and data to trawl through. In truth, much of this information only leads to further questions.
In this feature, we explore the five key questions on the lips of Nigerian fans on the back of the 2015-16 campaign.
Kelechi Iheanacho - what is he now?
No one could have imagined Kelechi Iheanacho would come to play such a huge part in Manchester City's season, and it was fitting that he scored the goal that confirmed the Citizens' place in the Uefa Champions League as they drew 1-1 with Swansea City at the weekend.
Eight league goals, 14 in all competitions for the season, and yet there is a more pressing question; what is Iheanacho's best position?
Whereas at U-17 level, he played as a right-sided playmaker, moving into central positions to thread through balls behind the opposing defence, he has functioned almost exclusively as a striker at Manchester City. The compromise with the national team has been to play him behind the forward but, for a number of reasons, it seems unlikely he will produce his best in the role.
Most obviously, his game has undergone a great degree of change over the last three years: he is now more geared toward making runs in and around the opposing penalty area than receiving the ball to feet and affecting the build-up. It may be best to simply accept the player he is becoming - a clinical, technically adept number 9 - rather than burden him with unrealistic expectations based on what he could have been.
Vincent Enyeama - now Oliseh is gone, can we get him back?
No.
Eighteen clean sheets with Lille this season suggest there is no wane in sight regarding Enyeama's ability. What has waned is his willingness to wear green and white, and retirement is his prerogative: as only the second Nigerian footballer to reach 100 caps, he has earned the right.
While the altercation with erstwhile coach Sunday Oliseh might have been the last straw, the Lille goalkeeper was already actively mulling retirement.
He cannot go on forever, and Carl Ikeme has not done badly at all. Let it go.
No.
Eighteen clean sheets with Lille this season suggest there is no wane in sight regarding Enyeama's ability. What has waned is his willingness to wear green and white, and retirement is his prerogative: as only the second Nigerian footballer to reach 100 caps, he has earned the right.
While the altercation with erstwhile coach Sunday Oliseh might have been the last straw, the Lille goalkeeper was already actively mulling retirement.
He cannot go on forever, and Carl Ikeme has not done badly at all. Let it go.
Ahmed Musa - why does he not produce for Nigeria?
So, another season, and Ahmed Musa hits double figures in Russia. Water is wet, ice is slippery, Finidi George could cross a ball. Aside stating the obvious, why does he not seem to hit the back of the net with any regularity for the Super Eagles?
A bit like with Iheanacho above, it is a question of where he should be played. The difference, of course, is that there is no uncertainty over where Musa is productive: on the left of a three-pronged front line. Musa is quick, has good technique when striking shots, and can finish. What he cannot do, though, is cross the ball with any real finesse. His dribbling is also hit-and-miss.
It can be argued that, even on the left, he is hardly Cristiano Ronaldo. This is true, and Gent's Moses Simon offers greater unpredictability on that flank anyway.
Musa's Champions League stats this season
However, when featuring in this role, Musa, like the anecdotal broken clock, is right twice a day.
Don't be too quick to bin him: in terms of movement, there are few better Nigerian forwards.
Isaac Success - what does he have to do to earn a call-up?
The Granada man has racked up a whole lot of minutes this term, and in many ways, his season has been the opposite of U-17 and U-20 teammate Iheanacho: long on playing time, and short on impact. That said, his consistency alone should have seen him earn a call-up at some point, no?
Even if not to the Super Eagles, at the very least there are the Olympics to come this summer.
Sure, you can make a case for the 20-year-old if you were so inclined, but it is by no means watertight. What is his standout statistic this season? Fouls suffered. Basically, Success gets fouled a lot; only Neymar gets fouled more on average per game. He is also the league's fourth most prolific dribbler, with Neymar and Lionel Messi managing more.
Good company, you say? True. Unless of course you blind yourself to the fact that no other player in La Liga loses the ball more frequently as a result of poor control than Success - 3.2 times per game.
Also, rather incongruously for a player who started out as a striker, and is essentially being converted into a winger, Success is a really imprecise finisher. This much was clear even at U-17 level: his strength and pace make him a nightmare for defenders, but he is by no means clinical.
So, another season, and Ahmed Musa hits double figures in Russia. Water is wet, ice is slippery, Finidi George could cross a ball. Aside stating the obvious, why does he not seem to hit the back of the net with any regularity for the Super Eagles?
A bit like with Iheanacho above, it is a question of where he should be played. The difference, of course, is that there is no uncertainty over where Musa is productive: on the left of a three-pronged front line. Musa is quick, has good technique when striking shots, and can finish. What he cannot do, though, is cross the ball with any real finesse. His dribbling is also hit-and-miss.
It can be argued that, even on the left, he is hardly Cristiano Ronaldo. This is true, and Gent's Moses Simon offers greater unpredictability on that flank anyway.
Musa's Champions League stats this season
However, when featuring in this role, Musa, like the anecdotal broken clock, is right twice a day.
Don't be too quick to bin him: in terms of movement, there are few better Nigerian forwards.
Isaac Success - what does he have to do to earn a call-up?
The Granada man has racked up a whole lot of minutes this term, and in many ways, his season has been the opposite of U-17 and U-20 teammate Iheanacho: long on playing time, and short on impact. That said, his consistency alone should have seen him earn a call-up at some point, no?
Even if not to the Super Eagles, at the very least there are the Olympics to come this summer.
Sure, you can make a case for the 20-year-old if you were so inclined, but it is by no means watertight. What is his standout statistic this season? Fouls suffered. Basically, Success gets fouled a lot; only Neymar gets fouled more on average per game. He is also the league's fourth most prolific dribbler, with Neymar and Lionel Messi managing more.
Good company, you say? True. Unless of course you blind yourself to the fact that no other player in La Liga loses the ball more frequently as a result of poor control than Success - 3.2 times per game.
Also, rather incongruously for a player who started out as a striker, and is essentially being converted into a winger, Success is a really imprecise finisher. This much was clear even at U-17 level: his strength and pace make him a nightmare for defenders, but he is by no means clinical.
Odion Ighalo - what do we make of him?
After going on a tear in the first half of the season, Ighalo's goal contribution at Watford petered out pitifully, as did the club's form. He only managed three league goals in the second half, but his contributions earlier on ensured the Hornets were never in any real danger.
Well, what about Nigeria? Theories abound as to how to get Ighalo firing with the Super Eagles, chief of which is finding him a centre-forward partner to replicate Troy Deeney's selfless support act at Vicarage Road. This view perhaps doesn't take into account the fact that the latter was present even as the former's record regressed to the mean after winter.
Even allowing that there is some telepathy between them without which Ighalo - like Sledgehammer, in the eponymous cop show of the 90s, who couldn't perform without his particular gun - cannot find the back of the net, what kind of player does that make him? High maintenance.
Is he good enough to warrant that kind of collateral? The fact that the answer to this is not equivocal says a lot.
After going on a tear in the first half of the season, Ighalo's goal contribution at Watford petered out pitifully, as did the club's form. He only managed three league goals in the second half, but his contributions earlier on ensured the Hornets were never in any real danger.
Well, what about Nigeria? Theories abound as to how to get Ighalo firing with the Super Eagles, chief of which is finding him a centre-forward partner to replicate Troy Deeney's selfless support act at Vicarage Road. This view perhaps doesn't take into account the fact that the latter was present even as the former's record regressed to the mean after winter.
Even allowing that there is some telepathy between them without which Ighalo - like Sledgehammer, in the eponymous cop show of the 90s, who couldn't perform without his particular gun - cannot find the back of the net, what kind of player does that make him? High maintenance.
Is he good enough to warrant that kind of collateral? The fact that the answer to this is not equivocal says a lot.
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