The former Everton defender has heaped huge praise on Gernot Rohr’s men for their performance so far in Egypt while singling out three players for special applaud.
Ex-Nigera international defender and the Super Eagles’ most capped player ever has commended the three-time Afcon champions for making it yet again to the semi final of the tournament.
“Nigeria is always blessed with talent. When we talk about going forward, I see that as our strength because we always have players that can take on opponents one-on-one with individual brilliance and getting a goal out of nothing,” Yobo told Goal.com.
The former Super Eagles captain picks out Ahmed Musa as the team’s biggest performer despite not scoring any goal yet.
Yobo said, “Musa is the most experienced player in the team now because he’s the captain when Mikel is not playing. He’s got everything, his speed is terrifying as a defender if you ask who I don’t like playing against, I will tell you Musa all day.
“I don’t want it because I tried it a few times in training and I know he’s got it. He is a match-winner, we saw that at the World Cup when he scored a brace and it is not the first time it’s happening.
“Musa has been our biggest threat, every time Musa had the ball, the defenders were on their back foot, they were under a lot of pressure. Sometimes decision making and understanding didn’t really click [against South Africa], Musa was outstanding because you always need someone that will take the ball to the opponent, somebody that will make opponents defend close to their post and that’s what he’s got.
“If you defend high against Musa, he will beat you with his speed all day. He is an intelligent player, he has improved very well. He’s our biggest threat because I know as a defender.”
Yobo, who skippered the Eagles to lift the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations title, has also been impressed with the output of Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze whenever called upon to play.
“Chukwueze did well, got his goal which is refreshing for a young player but it takes time for players to adapt to the national team.
“He is one for the future, he scored his first goal for Nigeria at Afcon (and) that will give him confidence. He’s very talented. Potentially, his future is very bright. He did very well against South Africa and the goal will take him a long way.” Yobo continued.
Alex Iwobi has started four out of five games at Afcon 2019 amidst constant heckling from fans for inconsistent displays.
Joseph Yobo, however, is a big fan of a player who scored one and assisted another in Nigeria’s 3 – 2 come-from-behind win over Cameroon in the Round of 16.
“We have a lot going forward, Alex Iwobi is adapting to the no. 10 position. We saw the goal he scored against Cameroon, in that position, you need someone that has legs,” the former Everton captain said.
“Sometimes, you needed to defend against the no. 6, so he’s doing a lot of dirty jobs as much as going forward which is good to see.
However, football is a team game and Yobo recognises that the present Super Eagles team has talents all over the field.
“This team has quality and you can’t really pick out one player. Ighalo has scored three goals.
” In the last game he didn’t score but we saw Chukwueze and Ekong scoring. It is good to have a couple of players that score goals in a team, sometimes if you rely on one person, you can get done.”
