First Nigeria was the darling of this Women's World Cup, dancing and singing its way to a surprising draw with powerful Sweden, during which Nigeria's coach, Edwin Okon, knelt to pray after every goal.
Then it became the tournament's villain, with reserve defender Ugo Njoku drawing a three-game suspension following an incident in which she threw an elbow into the face of Australia's Samantha Kerr, nearly breaking her jaw.
But moving rapidly between extremes is nothing new to women's soccer in Nigeria, where the girls play with great joy and beauty — well, most of them anyway — despite the fact many have known mostly poverty and deprivation.