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...