Hey, its a win! Albeit, all from the Spot.....Nigeria 2 Liberia 0
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 the vaunted practices
at unleashing shots during training found no place in an actual game.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The fact is that while there is little doubt about the class
of Nigeria’s players, there is far more work needed by the manager to whip them
into a fearful bunch and the relentless finger pointing at other matters will
not hide the facts. The third round of the qualifiers, assuming Nigeria gets
there, will beget a much stronger opposition. That is far more assured than
anything else.
In any case, Rohr, for all his conservativeness, relented in
his aversiveness to risk. He allowed himself to start a competitive game with
three at the back. But that was it. Instead of Iheanacho venturing far forward
in a normative 3-5-2, Iheanacho vacillated much into the space between Osimhen
and the midfield in a 3-5-1-1.
Osimhen, as he usually does, started busy. However, he was
ruefully hampered by the sleek field and found himself slipping at least two
times within the first quarter hour. In that opening quarter, it was eventful.
Both Osimhen and Awaziem wreathed in pain clutching their heads as the
Liberian defenders sent the message of a rough house day. But match referee
Yousef Essrayn of Tunisia was not going to have that inside the box and it was
clear with the two penalty kicks he awarded to Nigeria. That he let the vicious
display off outside the box did not mean he would do the same inside the box.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Both Osimhen and Awaziem wreathed in pain clutching their heads as the Liberian defenders sent the message of a rough house day. But match referee Yousef Essrayn of Tunisia was not going to have that inside the box and it was clear with the two penalty kicks he awarded to Nigeria.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After 13 minutes,
Essrayn had awarded his first spot kick as the Liberian keeper upended Osinhen
in the box. Osimhen stepped up to strong strike the spot kick home. Nigeria was
on the way. But expecting a feast turned pout too much to ask. Too be clear,
the Liberians had a fair share of possession and were by no means awed by the
star-studded Nigerian team.
The first half was not top notch with the pace unremarkable.
The second looked like Nigeria was about to make amends but find the critical
pass through the defense frequently eluded them. This is now a critical
problem. With a more inventive midfield, Osimhen could well be let loose. He
runs constantly seeking for opportunities but hardly any creative passes come
through. In this game, it was a constant problem. An in such situation, the
defense for Nigeria must be clinical but as we learned in the home game against
Central Africa that is hardly the case. In today’s game, another slip-up occurred
with Ekong heading g poorly back and only an alert Maduka Okoye prevented
Nigeria from conceding in the 72nd minute.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This time, skipper Ahmed Musa, scoreless in his last 24 internationals dating back to October 2018, stepped up to convert.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With Nigeria increasingly frustrated by the lack of goals,
defender Awaziem unleashed a long-distance attempt that portended opportunity
in the 74th minute. At least it harkened back to Iheanacho’s note
that the team had spent time practicing these attempts. As the game petered
out, Nigeria finally doubled its score. Yet, it did not come from open play.
Instead, it came from the spot as Osimhen was once again hauled down deep in
the box by the hapless Liberian goalkeeper. This time, skipper Ahmed Musa,
scoreless in his last 24 internationals dating back to October 2018, stepped up
to convert.
Line Up (Apps in red italics)
Maduka Okoye (1) 11–Chiedozie Awaziem (2) 25,
William Ekong (cpt-5) 53, Leon Balogun (6) 42– Wilfred Ndidi (4) 43--
Moses Simon (15) 42, Joseph Aribo (10) 10, Alex Iwobi (18) 50
(61st Chidera Ejuke (17) 6), Jamilu Collins (3) 24 --
Kelechi Iheanacho (14) 37 (86th Ahmed Musa (7) 102),
Victor Osimhen (9) 18.
Ratings
Maduka Okoye - 7.0 – Assured performance in goal. He commanded
his area astounding in the opening half snuffing out any inkling of a Liberian
opportunity.
Chiedozie Awaziem – 7.0- Again, the strongest Nigerian
defender defending or attacking. How long can Manager Rohr keep him out of a
starting position? Made his own attempts from far after it increasingly became
apparent of inability to set up Osimhen with many opportunities.
William Ekong – 6.3 – Was good but had little to do quite
often. However, one hoopla in the opening half required a quick decision by
Okoye to save his face.
Leon Balogun – 6.8 – Leon had a solid game despite his usual
slalom from defense petering out quickly as the Liberian s converged.
Wilfred Ndidi – 6.2 – This was an unremarkable day for
Ndidi. He was very quiet but won his share of contests. However, he gave up a
freekick in a dangerous spot in the opening half, but Nigeria survived as the
ball came off the wall.
Moses Simon – 6.5 – Simon was aggressive going forward and
his attention to defensive position provided more solid defending on the right
compared to the left side.
Joseph Aribo – 7.0 – This may be Aribo’s best performance
yet against an African side. He was full of activity and battled the tackles
and gave as much as he took.
Alex Iwobi – 6.2 – not one of Alex’s best days. He was
surprisingly quiet for long periods and some of his long balls came off
searching fruitlessly. He was finally rescued with a substitution. Clearly,
Alex has had much better days for Nigeria.
Chidera Ejuke – 6.8 – Ejuke brings energy and he showed that
once again. He was full of running, helping, circulating the ball. He is giving
notice to the Manager that he deserves a starting point. Chukwueze watch out!
Jamilu Collins – 6.2 – Something is certainly amiss. How is it
that a defender is constantly found wanting in 1 v 1 situations? There was
ample evidence of this today. Going forward? He sems more comfortable.
Kelechi Iheanacho – 6.3 – His quickness won the opening
penalty kick, but he seemed lost vacillating at the top of the midfield and further
up with Victor. Rohr in bid to prove a point about the field affecting
Iheanacho’s goal scoring left him on till very late. To no avail.
Ahmed Musa – 6.2 – Musa started by losing his first two
balls but quickly settled in with the rest of the team. He eventually scored his
first goal after over 20 games. Albeit from the penalty spot. It was quite a
drought.
Victor Osimhen – 7.0 – Afgain, full of running seeking for
the right service. Perhaps, one day Nigeria will get the personnel to provide
the constant service to match this talent. Until now, no uhuru.
MANAGER
Gernot Rohr – 6.2 – In spite of his puffing about how poor
the home ground has affected his team, his team did not much better on a surface
he had acknowledged as impeccable. What gives. However, he showed some gumption
to try out the 3 at the back in a competitive game. But even at that, he kept
Iheanacho vacillating between the striker and midfield positions to mark his safety
first approach.
Comments
Post a Comment