Football Nigeria -- Eagles Etcetera

Abidjan -- Nigeria moved into the African Football Cup of Nations (AFCON) quarter finals with Ademola Lookman scoring a brace in a 2 - 0 win over Cameroon. Nigeria played a clinical game and remained focused allowing Cameroon to dominate possession but offered the losers few real opportunities. Desperate to measure up, Cameroon made Osimhen suffer several fouls and the increasing desperation led to a caution for Nkoulou who fouled goalie Nwabali in midair. Nwabali, unable to continue, was replaced by goalie Uzoho. _____________________________________________________ Desperate to measure up, Cameroon made Osimhen suffer several fouls and the increasing desperation led to a caution for Nkoulou who fouled goalie Nwabali in midair. Nwabali, unable to continue, was replaced by goalie Uzoho. ____________________________________________________ The game started with Nigeria indicating its intention. After only eight minutes, Nigeria appeared to go ahead as Ajayi scored during a goalmouth scr

Abidjan -- Nigeria pipped Guinea Bissau 1-0 in Abidjan at the Houmphouet Boigny Stadium to progress to the second round of the AFCON before an estimated 20,000 spectators. With Ivory Coast going down 0-4 simultaneously to Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria was forced to finish second in the group because of a poorer goal difference compared to the Equatoguineans. Nigeria was clearly the better team using their new structure of 5-3-2 in defense and 3-5-2 in attack. In truth, the losers, who finished without a point in the group, were thoroughly outclassed. The difference in margin could be down to pitiful officiating by referee Ms. Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco) intent on balancing the game with poor officiating. Although, to be clear the referee with assistance of VAR officials ended up making the correct calls after Nigeria had put the ball in the net two other times and fortuitously did not call for a VAR check after the losers had a goal ruled off. Replays indicated the goal by Guinea Bissau sh

 Abidjan -- Embattled Manager Jose Peseiro led the Super Eagles to a disciplined display with a base 5-4-1 formation, rarely seen under the ultra-attacking Manager. He ditched the two-forward set that he had fallen in love with and instead took an ultra defensive approach in beating Ivory Coast 1-0 in a critical AFCON group game in Abidjan to keep Nigeria's knockout stage qualification hopes alive. __________________________________________________________ Embattled Manager Jose Peseiro led the Super Eagles to a disciplined display with a base 5-4-1 formation rarely seen under the ultra-attacking Manager. He ditched the two-forward set that he had fallen in love with and instead took an ultra defensive approach in beating Ivory Coast 1-0 ...... __________________________________________________________ Nigeria was ultra disciplined and maintained their lines religiously by relying on quick counters to rattle the host team. But it was Nigeria that had the first half-chance but Osimh

Midfield Engine Alhassan Yusuf.... dominant and 110% effort player Abidjan....Nigeria began its AFCON play with yet another tie and has now won just one game in its last six appearances. Nigeria will likely make it into the knockout stages of this competition on the basis that three teams can qualify from a group of four teams. However, this team is tottering on a disaster and disappointment. Today, they battled to a 1-1 against a less talented Equatorial Guinea team that Nigeria should have put away if only Nigeria converted a catalog of opportunities. The opportunities were not mere half chances. Instead, there were two of them where the goalkeeper was at the mercy of a Nigerian attacker. The first came after 54 minutes when Sanusi found himself wide open in front of goal only to miss badly.  and the rebound was hit to the skies by Lookman. Then Osimhen was sent through with no defender in sight but the striker saw his attempted wide right beyond the goalkeeper in the 75th minute. ++