The Super Eagles on Wednesday confirmed their place in the second round (Round of 16) of the 2019 AFCON with a 1-0 win over Guinea at the Alexandria Stadium.
Izuchukwu Okosi takes a look at the five takeaways from the game.
1. Full Backs Not Supporting Attacking Efforts
The duo of Ola Aina and Chidozie Awaziem were not overly bad in defending on
Wednesday but Nigeria’s game is mostly orchestrated from the wings and the full
backs did not deliver on this much in this contest.
2. Guinea’s Good Defensive Solidity
The Syli National of Guinea were defensive in approach and only threatened a
few times.
This frustrated the Nigerians as they struggled to create clear cut scoring
chances.
3. Iwobi’s Substitution Almost Costly
Although the Arsenal forward misplaced a few passes and made some poor decisions
he did create goal scoring chances and had a shot at goal.
The Eagles midfield broke down after his substitution, the Guineans flew out of
their traps but thankfully the Nigerians held on to their slim lead.
4. Akpeyi’s Howlers
The Kaizer Chiefs keeper was literally untested by the Guineans but he dropped
a few clangers which ultimately did not cost the team.
The goalkeeping situation in the Super Eagles is dicey. It is not inconceivable
to believe that Gernot Rohr does not really know who to trust best among his
goalkeepers.
5. Second Half Eagles
Like they did against Burundi, the Super Eagles upped their ante in the
second half.
It clearly shows that they have had better second halves so far but it is time
they started scoring early – in the first halves as they encounter more
difficult opposition in the knockout stages.
Izuchukwu Okosi
