It was a horrific night for the Super Eagles of Nigeria. They were eliminated from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in the round of 16 after a 1-0 loss to the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia.
Maduka Okoye made a big blunder which cost the team, and Iwobi got red-carded barely five minutes after his introduction.
Soccernet gives a rating of the players’ performances.
Maduka Okoye, 3/10: Okoye could have done better. The goal from the Tunisians was due to his mistake. Although he made one good save in the game, his failure to keep out Youssef Msakni’s strike cost Nigeria.
William Troost-Ekong, 5.5/10: The Super Eagles captain failed to marshall his lads properly. Nigeria looked shaky in defence, especially after the red card. He hardly offered anything upfront, unlike the previous games.
Kenneth Omeruo, 5.5/10: Omeruo had an average game. A few times, he was beaten for pace, and he, alongside his partner Troost-Ekong looked shaky, especially after the red card.
Ola Aina, 6.0/10: Aina was good in defence. However, unlike the first two games when the Torino man pushed up the pitch to support the attack, he only started to make forward runs after Nigeria conceded. He also looked shaky in some parts of the second half.
Zaidu Sanusi, 5.5/10: The Porto man was very conservative, he offered a few good runs in attack, but they were ineffective. He was also a bit questionable, as he was caught wanting in some defensive situations.
Joe Aribo, 6/10: Aribo had a good game, but he failed to offer much in attack. His passing was good, but he was conservative, especially in the first half.
Wilfred Ndidi, 6/10: Ndidi was good in midfield, he was a bit conservative, but he still made his presence felt with his timely tackles and interceptions. However, he could have done more to prevent Msakni’s goal.
Kelechi Iheanacho, 5/10: The Leicester City man had an average showing. He hardly added any bite in attack and had only a yellow card to show for his time on the pitch.
Moses Simon, 5.5/10: Simon was caged in the game. He hardly offered anything upfront because each time he had the ball, he had three Tunisians on him. His crosses were good, but they amounted to nought.
Taiwo Awoniyi, 5/10: Awoniyi was hardly seen in the fixture. Compared to the games against Egypt and Sudan, the Union Berlin man was quite static upfront. The few times he had the ball, he struggled to produce anything.
Samuel Chukwueze, 5.5/10: Chukwueze did not offer much in attack. He failed to beat any Tunisian defender and struggled to impose himself in the fixture.
Substitutes
Alex Iwobi, 3/10: It was a horror show from the Everton man. He got his marching orders barely five minutes after his introduction.
Peter Olayinka, 5/10: The Slavia Prague man did not offer much in attack. He was isolated and hardly linked well with the midfield.
Sadiq Umar, 6/10: Umar was unarguably the best attacker that featured for Nigeria on the night. His introduction added some bite to the Nigeria attack. He made some good runs. However, his finishing was still poor.
olayinka deserves a better rating, created the moses simon and sadiq chances expected him to start the match after an okay second half against guinea-bissau
Olayinka is Not a super Eagles material pls.
His impact was not felt on the match .
The truth of the matter is the team got distracted. WESTEROF warned AUGUSTINE EGURVOUN after the first game. WESTEROF said “You have to be their police” The team thought they had the trophy already. Iwobi was boasting before the Tunisian match of been part of a quality team. And EGURVOUN failed to listen about government official visiting the camp. And said is our culture. Again, ex international indicating publicly where and what position their nephew should play. You can’t try that with a foreign coach. This is ridiculous. Some of the ex – international are not coaches. With all due respect to EGURVOUN he did his best with the time he has.. It’s not easy managing SUPER EAGLES . Sometimes It’s good to test defeat!!!
Now the team are out one had to wonder if the sacking of Rohr was the right decision. Yes The boys were great in the group match but when it mattered against a technical Tunisian team the boys fell short. So one questions the reason why the newly appointed coach was not there to work alongside the coaching team.Moreover, the slackness of the NFF not securing Dennis and the others
But now it’s time to prepare for the World Cup qualifier
Very Sad day. I’ve been supporting Nigeria since Ghana failed woefully. Now Nigeria has also saddened my heart. Anyway, both Ghana and Nigeria have the WC qualifier to think about. Nigeria has a slight advantage over Ghana as the final game will be played in Nigeria: home advantage is vital in Africa. Will an Eagle soar higher than a Star? Time and both games will tell.
The team got carried away and under-performed. its technical depth was called to question and they faltered.
I don’t know why the Super Eagles coaches keep playing Maduka Okoye, instead of Francis Uzoho, a much more confident and controlled Keeper in SE”s goal. Get Uzoho’s confidence up and let him be the number 1 goal keeper in the WC play-off with Ghana and hence forth!
Also Victor Osimen and Emmanuel Dennis and Chidera Ejuke should take the place of Awoniyi and Samuel Chukwueze who has fallen in form for the playoff.
Good analysis