Football Nigeria -- Eagles Etcetera

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. ___________________________________________________ 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. ___________________ _______________________________ The disappointed home crowd left after a shock 1-1 tie with the consolation that a World Cup qualification is still within sight. Th...

Tangiers, MOROCCO – Nigeria stayed in the driver’s seat on the road to the final round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers with a workmanlike production against Liberia that ended 2-0. The reality is that the final score line did not reflect fully the play on the field and the losers may have felt hard done by.  Nevertheless, Nigeria was the better side and deserved the win albeit by two opportunities from the spot.                     Weeks earlier, Nigeria’s Manager Gernot Rohr had raved about the magnificent playing surface in Tangiers and gave the impression that his team was about to explode and that Kelechi Iheanacho’s long stretch of fruitless ness in front of goal was about to be over. Neither happened. Although Iheanacho was left on until 4 minutes to the final whistle, much longer than Rohr had allowed him in recent times, Kelechi was still scoreless despite the surface. Then Rohr’s team huffed for long periods and even th...

Douala, CAMEROON -- Despite the general gloom that crowded the calamity in Lagos following a shock 0-1 loss to unremarkable Central Africa Republic (CAR), Nigeria was able to recover to win the rematch 2-0 in Douala, Cameroon today. It was enough to put a world Cup campaign back on track but it is questionable whether it has assuaged the anger of Nigerian fans. It was clear that Nigeria was determined to teach the Central Africans a lesson from the first whistle. Nigeria controlled affairs immediately and it was clear that the team was on a mission. The difference in seriousness was evident. In Lagos, Nigeria huffed and puff to create chances. In Yaounde, the chances came much quicker and the cuts more incisive. Manager Gernot Rohr, a septuagenarian, had been feeling intense pressure from Nigerians after the disastrous image and home loss but he choose to make two changes. Bringing in the intense Chiedozie AWaziem to replace Ola Aina at right back and the ageing Ahmed Musa for Chiedoz...

Lagos - The shock of a home loss to Central African Republic (CAR) is a deep wound that will take ages to ameliorate. In this World Cup qualifier, no one was expecting Nigeria to share points in any of the scheduled two games against CAR and yet, at home, Nigeria collapsed. Gratefully, they have a few days to rest before red-encountering CAR but this time in Cameroon. Thankfully, the game will be in neighboring Cameroon and not CAR where the crowd would have been rabid and making amend more difficult given the result obtained in Nigeria by CAR. ---------- The shock of a home loss to Central African Republic (CAR) is a deep wound that will take ages to ameliorate. . . . Gratefully, they have a few days to rest before red-encountering CAR but this time in Cameroon. Thankfully, the game will be in neighboring Cameroon and not CAR where the crowd would have been rabid and making amend more difficult given the result obtained in Nigeria by CAR. ------------ The unfortunate result demonstrat...

Mindelo, Cape Verde -- Nigeria came from behind to take a deserved maximum points from its second game in a World Cup qualifier in Cape Verde. Apart from a late spirited effort by the host team, Nigeria was clearly the dominant team in this encounter. From the start, the result was hardly in any doubt. Nigeria tossed the ball around, making the hosts to chase shadows for long periods.  That Nigeria had several starters absent was hardly felt. The lads wearing the green and white did enough that the absences were a distant thought. In spite of the domination, Nigeria has to be concerned in the long run. The goalkeeping by Maduka Okoye was horrendous as he gave up a goal when it had seemed more difficult for the hosts to score. Nigeria had dominated up to that moment. Yet, the host team was fortunate in the 19th minute as they beat Nigeria's offside trap. Okoye had been positioned to snuff out an attempt from the left side by the hosts. Instead, he still conceded! He let a ball rifl...

Lagos -- The Super Eagles started the qualifier for the 2022 World Cup with a 2-0 home win over Liberia in Lagos. On a day that Nigeria's captain Ahmed Musa clocked a century of games for his country, the Eagles virtually walked through a dreary game. Fortunately, what matters is earning the maximum points and not the style. The qualifiers began a few weeks ago with so much uncertainty about the availability of the UK-based players. The contingent showed up and played a critical role with Kelechi Iheanacho notching a brace and his second was off another UK-based mate -- Alex Iwobi. It underlined the importance of the contingent to Nigeria's hopes and the fact that they will be absent for the next game against Cape Verde is certainly a note of worry. ------ ....... the 2-0 win was enough. Maximum points earned and two points clear on the group table. There could not have been a better start to the campaign.  ------ But until then, the 2-0 win was enough. Maximum points earned an...

Lagos -- September 3 -- Group C World Cup Qualifier (2nd Round) -- Skipper Ahmed Musa clocking 100 games for Nigeria will headline Nigeria's World Cup qualifying game against Liberia. For many countries, a player clocking a century of games for their country is no longer news given the fact that numerous internationals take place in today's football. However, for Nigeria it is still prime news. Only two players have ever clocked that many games for Nigeria -- Vincent Enyeama (101) sand Joseph Yobo (100). Ahmed Musa who earned his first appearance for Nigeria against Madagascar back on September 5, 2010 is set to join that exclusive club when he trots onto the field against Liberia in Lagos.                                                       Ahmed Musa celebrating a 2018 World Cup goal...spectacular! Musa debuted for 8 minutes on that date against Mad...

Vienna, Austria -- Nigeria went down 0-1 to Cameroon in an international friendly before 1,000 estimated attendance. Nigeria, debuting four players, never really got off the low gear until Cameroon stung with the only goal after 36 minutes had gone by. The goal was a 25 yard low bolt from Anguissa and goalkeeper Maduka Okoye was slow getting down with the ball already slammed past before he arrived. Although Cameroon won this game, there is nothing from the game that demonstrated superiority over Nigeria, except the scoreline.  The game was even for most of the night before Cameroon struck. Nigeria, in fact, had come close earlier when Etebo slipped the ball in deep but an onrushing Onuachu managed to hit the chance high when it seemed easier to score. However, that was not the definitive miss. The definitive miss was not until 57 minutes of the game had passed and Nigeria found itself chasing a goal. Yet, Simon managed to hit a rebound skywards from barely 10 yards after Cameroon...

Lagos -- Paul Onuachu delivered a second goal in as many games after being left out of the substantive invitation lists for the African Cup of Nations qualifiers. His goal against Lesotho, today in Lagos, was one of three notched by Nigeria in a game where there are concerns. Nigeria had qualified for the AFCON before this game against Lesotho  but Lesotho had also been eliminated. With both teams essentially playing a pressure-less game, it was no more than a glorified international friendly in Lagos. However, a catalog of errors by Nigeria ensured that there are concerns from a game that Nigeria was always destined to win by a mile. The first half was frightful. There were loads of misplaced passes, surprisingly poor and few chances created by the Nigerians. Tyrone Ebuehi, one of the few bright spots on the team, delivered an outstanding performance in a game where few of his team mates did little to impress. Nigeria dominated territorially with Ebuehi and Sanusi presenting the w...

Port Novo, Benin Republic: Nigeria's Super Eagles underlined superiority in beating Benin Republic 1-0 in Port Novo, Benin Republic today after already qualifying for the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Nigeria's superiority was never in doubt, in this game, and the score could have reflected a bigger margin. However, because Nigeria had already qualified before the opening whistle, it seemed that Benin Republic was going to be saved from the sword. Well, Benin was just a minute to celebration when Paul Onuachu popped up to score the winner in a scramble. For Onuachu, it was redemption after being vilified by Nigerian fans for tepid performances in recent games. With nothing at stake for Nigeria, Coach Gernot Rohr uncharacteristically gave a debut to Anayo Iwuala [ see Photo ] of the locally-based Aba Enyimba. It was a reward following reports of astonishing performances in training. Iwuala was neither in Rohr's initial invitation list for the games nor was he ...