Lagos: The Fortress is Dead but Nigeria Slips Through....

Lagos, NIGERIA – Gernot Rohr convinced Nigerians that his team was under no pressure against Cape Verde in a World Cup qualifier at home in Lagos. He was right. All the pressure was on the visitors. Cape Verde needed to win in Nigeria, a long-feared fortress of the Super Eagles. But the Islanders had no fear. After all, little Islanders from Cape Verde demonstrated that the invincibility of the Nigerians at home was now a relic of the past. Thus, they came ready to conquer and they nearly achieved their goal.

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Cape Verde needed to win in Nigeria, a long-feared fortress of the Super Eagles. But the Islanders had no fear. After all, little Islanders from Cape Verde demonstrated that the invincibility of the Nigerians at home was now a relic of the past.

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The disappointed home crowd left after a shock 1-1 tie with the consolation that a World Cup qualification is still within sight. They realize that Nigeria’s invincibility is now a forgotten past. With a vaunted German coach and the foreign bred coterie of players supposedly bred on all the modern dictates of today’s football, it still must be shocking that Nigeria could not muster home win against a much lower ranked Islanders.

The next round will not always have Nigerians as favorite. Huffing and puffing when favored may turn to gnashing and wailing in the next round given the paltry display and sustained decline of a once feared team. But what can be done now? Nothing or very little. Gernot Rohr’s contract hamstrings a Football Federation that now faces the question whether its hiring decision was fruitful? Whether its focus on football education was well informed? And additional questions of doubts.

The desperation to recall Odion Ighalo, the insistence on out of form Ahmed Musa throughout the qualifiers? The rigidity in staying with his system of 'safety first' must now be fully questioned. Has it all hamstrung the team? Are Rohr’s ideas now so passé that the game has long passed him?

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The rigidity in staying with his system of 'safety first' must now be fully questioned. Has it all hamstrung the team? Are Rohr’s ideas now so passé that the game has long passed him?

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To be clear, Nigeria started like a team determined to erase all the doubts. With Osimhen paired with returning Odion Ighalo, Nigeria took control from the first whistle. A whirlwind move located Moses Simon on the right. He lifted a ball to the overly zealous forwards who appeared to be in offside position, but fortune smiled on Nigeria. A defender attempted to clear, and the attempt automatically negated an offside call opportunity and the ball fell to Victor Osimhen and he pounced. It was a great start. 1-0 and it seemed a feast was on! But the visitors did not despair. Instead of wilting and surrendering they attacked and hit back. Lagos was no longer a feared venue. Within five minutes they underlined the decline of Lagos.  Nigeria’s skipper Ekong conceded a corner kick. It was he who then failed to track his man on the ensuing corner kick and his man rammed it home. 1-1.

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....1-0 and it seemed a feast was on! But the visitors did not despair. Instead of wilting and surrendering they attacked and hit back. Lagos was no longer a feared venue. Within five minutes they underlined the decline of Lagos. 

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The game was a struggle then and the Islanders gave a good account of themselves especially in the second half when for large minutes the game they were the team on the front foot with Nigeria playing, for moments, in desperation to secure the draw needed to move on to the next stage. The draw finally secured after three minutes of injury time, at home, nonetheless, marked a change of status and fortunes. The mighty Nigerian Super Eagles now can no longer be counted on to overcome the lower ranked teams at home. Disregard the mantra of football education from Europe. It was all on exhibition in Lagos and it mattered very little against a team decided lower rankled. The reality is that Nigeria has become an also-ran. It is not a country to be feared home or away. Ask the Central Africans .. ask the Cape Verdeans … ask the Sierra Leoneans. The reality stares us in the face. It is what it is.

 

Line -Up

Maduka Okoye (1)₁₃ – Chidozie Awaziem (20)₂₇, William Ekong (cpt-5)₅₄, Leon Balogun (6)₄₃+84 -- Wilfred Ndidi (4)₄₄ --Simon Moses (15)₄₃* (69^th Abdullahi Shehu (12))₄₀, Joseph Aribo (10)₁₂ (76^th Frank Onyeka (21))₄, Alex Iwobi (18)₅₁, Jamilu Collins (3)₂₅ – Odion Ighalo (8)₃₆ (76^th Kelechi Iheanacho (14))₃₈, Victor Osimhen (9)₁₉ (88^th Paul Onuachu (19)₁₆).