2018 World Cup Qualifier: Four Things Super Eagles Must Do To Beat Chipolopolo In Ndola

By Augustine Akhilomen

Nigeria’s road to the 2018 FIFA World Cup will begin on
Sunday with a daunting task against the Zambia in what is expected to be
a mouth-watering encounter encounter in Ndola.

The team which is packed with youths like
Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho and Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi as well as experienced players such as Leicester
City’s Ahmed Musa and Chelsea’s Mikel Obi, will be hoping to pocket the maximum points in a bid to be in
total command of their group that also has Algeria and Cameroon in it.

Soccernet.com.ng’s AUGUSTINE AKHILOMEN x-ray four
things the Super Eagles must do if they are to claim the three points in
Ndola on Sunday.

The technical crew of the Super Eagles must ensure that the
duo of William Paul Ekong and Kenneth Omeruo have a proper
understanding and a high level of concentration so as to checkmate the
attacking threats of  Collins Mbesuma, Nathan Sinkala and Rainford
Kalaba, who are known for their pace and craftiness and sights for
goals.

There is nothing wrong when a team build gradually from the
backline, midfield to the attack. However, when there are certain delay
of passes from any of these positions, it could cause a team lots of
damage.

To this end, the  Super Eagles must have a quick
vision of what they want to do with the ball without any form of
dressing the ball around. A player like Mikel Obi must be told to
release the ball quickly to the strikers if they are to put the Chipolopolo
of Zambia under pressure. If Mikel could replicate his box-to-box style
at the Rio Olympic Games, then the team could fly over Zambia.

Ordinarily, Brown Ideye would have been an ideal frontman
in the absence of Odion Ighalo, however, due to his profligacy in front
of goal, Super Eagles coach, Genort Rohr should deploy the deadly trio
of Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi and Ahmed Musa who are ready to take
their goal scoring chances against the strong defence of the Zambia
team that has Lawrence Chungu, Simon Silwamba, George Chilufya, Adrian
Chama and Ziyo Tembo.

Statistics have shown that the Super Eagles hardly win away
matches against African teams if they concede first. So, the team should make sure they make no blunders at  the back.