Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria’s men’s senior national team, the Super Eagles, on Sunday booked their ticket for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivorie with a nervy 3-2 win over Sierra Leone.
The Sierra Leoneans gave the Eagles quite the scare as they came from two goals down to draw 2-2 before a late winner came.
Prime Business Africa here presents the observations foem the game in Monrovia.
1. Super Eagles weak spot
Bright Osayi-Samuel has always proven to be a good addition to the team since he made his debut on 17 November 2022 in an international friendly against Portugal.
However on Sunday, he was not at his best as the Sierra Leoneans launched most of their attacks via his right back position.
The two goals the Eagles conceded were created from moves down the right side.
2. Dependence On Osimhen
SS Napoli striker Victor Osimhen scored a brace to take his international goals tally to 17, which means he is now 20 goals shy of the late legendary Rashidi Yekini who scored 37 goals for Nigeria.
Despite the welcoming strikes, it is imperative that the national team should have other regular sources of goals.
Kelechi Iheanacho provided the third goal of the evening.
3. Sloppy Defence
The Super Eagles have no fear factor anymore.
Teams in Africa now go into matches against the team believing that they can win or pull a draw.
Sierra Leone almost caused another upset when they came from a goal down to level 2-2 and threatened to score another before the late Iheanacho goal.
4. Physical Contest
There were some fouls that almost caused flashpoints in the game.
Everton star Alex Iwobi took exceptions to the latter of two bad tackles against him in the game which the referee duly penalised the offending Sierra Leone player.
African football is known to be physical but the intensity of this was quite worrying.
5. Game of Two Halves
The Nigerian team had a better first half while Sierra Leone enjoyed most of the ball possessions early in the second half.
Luckily the Nigerian side prevailed.
6. Adeleye’s Good Performance
Hapoel Jerusalem goalkeeper Olubayo Adeleye made some important saves to ensure that the Lone Stars did not score a back breaking goal after coming back to draw level at 2-2.
The keeper who was making his second appearance for the team made quite a good impression on his teammates led by Victor Osimhen who praised his performance.
It was also great to see the duo of goalkeepers Ojo Olorunleke and Victor Sochima congratulating Adeleye.
7. Regulars for Sao Tome Avoided?
Had the game ended in a 2-2 draw or a defeat to Nigeria, perhaps the regular Super Eagles players who have always prosecuted the qualifiers and main sponsors would have been required to face Sao Tome and Principe.
Now, the Super Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro may opt to field a combination of fringe players and home based players who have bot been able to break into the team.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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