W’Cup: Super Eagles Not Yet There
At Italia 90, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon caused a
major FIFA World Cup upset when they defeated the then cup holders, Argentina
1-0 in the tournament’s opener.
François Omam-Biyik’s goal and an unheralded
team of journeymen defeated Diego Maradona’s world champions.
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In 2002 and making their debut at World Cup, the Teranga
Lions of Senegal stunned the football world after defeating yet another cup
holders, France 1-0. Midfielder, Pape Bouba Diop, upstaged France's cast of
star names to score the decisive first goal of the tournament after 30 minutes.
Now going beyond the African continent, in 2004, Greece, with
only a handful of their players plying their trade outside their domestic
league, stunned the host of the Euro 2004, Portugal, with fiery Luis Figo and
Cristiano Ronaldo, 1-0 in the final. The Greeks had earlier defeated the
Portuguese 2-1 in the tournament’s opener.
In all these examples above and many more that may not be
cited, the winning teams
were bereft of star players. What they lacked in
individual talents, they had collectively as a team. They entered the
competitions as underdogs, but had one thing going for them. They played as a
team and there was cohesion and understanding. The players played for one
another and ensured there were no loopholes.
Now the Super Eagles qualified for the World Cup with ease
and had since then gone on an unbeaten run dating back to June 10, 2017, when
the Bafana Bafana of South Africa defeated them 2-0 in Uyo, but the two tune-up
matches against Poland and Serbia have shown that it is not yet uhuru heading
to the summer World Cup in Russia.
While not taking anything away from Coach Gernot Rohr, who
has done greatly well with the Super Eagles, the two friendly matches played in
the space of five days have exposed some lapses in the team.
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The earlier 1-0
win over the number four-ranked team in the world, Poland, actually
overshadowed the noticeable deficiencies in the Super Eagles, as most analysis
centred on the unexpected win at the expense of the needed surgical demand urgently
needed in the team.
The perceptions of Nigerians were more on the result and
less on what the players failed to do right on the field.
For instance, Zachary Baraje, one of the experience coaches
in Nigeria, while speaking to SATURDAY INDEPENDENT,
berated the team’s attack in the match against
Poland and Serbia, saying that
Ighalo and others failed to stamp their feet on ground.
He noted that Eagles
were flat-footed in Wroclaw and England, urging Rohr to look for a clinical
forward with urgency.
“The attack was not very consistent against Poland, even
against Serbia. Ighalo played as if he has lost form. Nigerian players cannot
count how many times they shot at goal or break the defence of Poland and
Serbia. I think the coach is doing great in the team but he must do something
along that line,” he said.
In all honesty, the China- based striker, Ighalo, was not at
his best, he failed to give the Polish and Serbia defence any problems and
posed no threat at all. He was duly and rightly subbed off for Moses Simon late
in the game in Wroclaw.
In the first match, players like Victor Moses were culpable
in a number of ways. Baraje noted further that the Chelsea player was dragging
the ball for too long without releasing it to his team mates – a situation that
led to the Polish players dispossessing him too often.
“Moses must improve in his dragging of opponents,” Baraje
said. In so many occasions, he was caught in-between opposing defenders, even
after a barrage of chances to release the ball. One of such instances, though,
led to the penalty he converted in the 61st minute.
Another noticeable fault in the match against Poland was
their rate of return after losing the ball. On several occasions the Polish
dispossessed them, the players were lethargic in returning. This was pointed
out by Kadiri Ikhana, former CAF Coach of the Year, who also spoke to SATURDAY INDEPENDENT on the match.
Ikhana also pointed to the attacking lull of the team, saying further that the
coach was yet to find a suitable alternative for his captain, John Mikel Obi,
in the middle.
“They did not perform well in attack and midfield during the
Poland match and they were not recovering well when they lose balls. We can
tolerate them because a player like Mikel was missing.”
In the match against Serbia, there was no difference in terms
of performance. As a matter of fact, it was worse. Serbia exposed what was left
of the team. In the defence, for example, the Serbia match showed that there
was no better defensive combo outside Balogun and Ekong. Due to illness,
Balogun was rested and in his place, Rohr preferred Chidozie Awaziem as a pair
to Troost-Ekong.
It was one wrong decision too many, as the central defence
showed so much vulnerability and misunderstanding, leading to questions being
asked whether Kenneth Omeruo would not have been a better choice.
The Serbian
goals were scored from Awaziem’s side, who could not effectively play with
Ekong. Recall that when Nigeria lost 0-2 to South Africa in Uyo, Mikel, Victor
Moses and Balogun were absent. Of the three, only Moses played on Tuesday and similar defeat was
inflicted. Is it a coincidence?
According to Ikhana, Rohr should use the remaining friendly
matches to unearth another central defensive combo in cases of injuries to
either of the ‘Oyinbo Wall’ defenders.
In the middle, it is obvious that the Ogenyi Onazi and
Wilfred Ndidi combination has not worked. Both players as well as Oghenekaro
Etebo manned the middle when we lost to South Africa, and except Etebo, whose
position was taking over by Joel Obi, the two played again against Serbia and
the middle cracked once again, allowing the Serbs to run freely.
If Mikel was
there, the hole in the middle would have become less obvious and would have
been plugged.
Modern football will thrive with a midfielder, who will keep
possession, dictate the pace and look for a hole in the opponent’s side. These
are hallmarks of Mikel.
The two matches exposed the team to the present
indispensability of Mikel in the team. But then, as part of what friendly
matches are, and still having three friendly matches before the World Cup, Rohr
can as well look at an Onazi-John Ogu combination or Ogu-Ndidi combination, or
even Etebo-Ogu combination for a possible solution to the problems in the
middle because Mikel may be unavailable in some matches in Russia for varied
reasons.
In the attack against Serbia, the bluntness was summed up
after the Super Eagles could not boast of five shots on target, while Serbia
had more. Ahmed Musa was hardly in control as he started upfront. Just like
Ighalo, who substituted him, there was no threat to Serbian goalkeeper. If
Nigerian forward could be that lull in a friendly affair, what becomes of the
team when they are faced with tested defenders at the World Cup?
In the goalpost, Francis Uzoho showed that the search for a
quality goalkeeper will not end soon. His flaps and reflexes at crosses were a
huge suspect; he was found wanting in organising his defence very well and
initially showed jitters.
The games we played against Poland and Serbia exposed his
lack of quality depth. Goalkeepers are better as they age and nothing stops
Rohr from extending invitations to the duo of Dele Aiyenugba and Austin Ejide,
who are still very much active in Israel for Hapoel Ashkelon and Hapoel Hadera
respectively.
The team, in the two matches played, conceded dead balls at
will and showed lack of cover when the balls were played, especially free
kicks. Not only that the Super Eagles conceded such opportunities to their
opponents, they were severally caught napping when such balls were played.
According to Austin Eguaveon, who praised the team for their
defensive discipline, especially in the Poland match, the Super Eagles did not
perform badly, but admitted that they must up their game and play more as a
team because they would get stiffer opponents at the World Cup.
“We should give it to them, especially looking at the manner
they defended against Poland after leading. But if we are to judge them on the
two matches, you will see that there are errors that need to be corrected
because at the World Cup, it is not going to be friendly any longer; even
Poland will play better.”
On his comment, Samson Siasia averred that the two matches
had exposed the team’s grey areas, admonishing the coach to start narrowing
down instead of continued experimenting.
“It was good that we played those matches instead of living
in illusion that we have assembled the best. The two matches exposed our lapses
and I think the coach should now start forming a team instead of continuing to
try out players,” he said.
Meanwhile, it was not all bad for the team. For example, one
good positive that could be deduced from the Poland match was the team’s
defensive approach, which ensured that Robert Lewandowski was restricted to
only two chances.
The central defensive discipline of Leon Balogun and Troost-Ekong
showed great understanding and ward off any threat from the ever-versatile
attackers, led by the Bayern Munich forward.
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