NIgeria Finally Head for Brazil 2014....
Nigeria reached the 2014 World Cup finals with a routine-like win over Ethiopia in Calabar. The game provided us with an opportunity to closely look at the Nigerian team. Unfortnately, this game may not have been Nigeria at its best considering the circumstance where it started with a foot already in the World Cup finals after wining last month in Addis Ababa 2-1. Nevertheless, here is my interpretation of the game in Calabar. THE GAME: Nigeria controlled most of the game with its ball possession display and some revealing passes that presented several opportunities early on. However, it must be said that the fact that Nigeria was hardly troubled may have been due to Ethiopia’s tactics where only Saladin was left up front until the opening goal when Mekele was further advanced in search of goals. With Saladin alone up top, Ethiopia sought to cut off Nigeria’s wide defenders rampaging upfront with long balls. However, with Nigeria’s central defense at home, Saladin...