Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria began their Group A campaign in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations with a 1-1 draw against a resilient Equatorial Guinea side at the Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara on Sunday evening.
Victor Osimhen saved the blushes of the three-time African champions with a 38th minute equaliser after the Thunder had taken the lead.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe African Footballer of The Year however missed a chance to win it for the Nigeria side in the second half.
Prime Business Africa’s Izuchukwu Okosi presents the observations from the match.
1. Osimhen needs support
Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen may have scored the level ler that brought some respectability to the scoreline but he was also guilty of missing some glit-edge chances.
Sadly, Bayer Leverkusen star Victor Boniface copped an injury which ultimately ruled him out of the tournament.
Perhaps one missed chance for a Victor may be the bread and butter of another of the Victors.
Super Eagles handlers would do well to pair Osimhen and Boniface in future games as that could let the SS Napoli have lesser attention and pressure off his shoulders.
2. Losing Eligible Players Haunts Nigeria At Last
Imagine that the Nigerian society is one where leadership, economy and administration in general is topnotch.
Add good security, professionalism, good welfare package and all the ingridients that would ensure loyalty, perhaps Nigeria would not have lost some of the Nigeria eligible players that opted to change allegiance and represent other countries.
Imagine a Nigeria lineup or overall 27 man squad with Manuel Akanji, Fikayo Tomori, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka, Jamal Musiala, Michael Olise, Tammy Abraham to name a couple of them in addition to Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface, Wilfred Ndidi, Samuel Chukwueze!
The complaint of a lack of creativity in the midfield could have been taken care of a few years ago if Eze had been convinced to play for the country of his parents, Nigeria.
Despite the issues on Nigerian and African Football and governance, the Nigeria Football Federation goofed when Eberechi Eze was not selected for the Euro 2020 tournament.
That was when they could have used all machinery to convince him to play for Nigeria as former NFF boss Amaju Pinnick tried to do in 2017.
3. Afcon of Upsets?
Sunday’s draw was the third successive draw recorded in competitive game by the Super after the draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixtures.
Equatorial Guinea also held Nigeria in recent memory and with the Afcon already proving to be one of giant slayers upsetting the established order, we could begin to see some of the so-called weaker sides becoming bogey teams.
4. Fabulous Owono
Goalkeeper Jesus Owono was deservedly awarded Man of the March prize following his impressive performance on Sunday evening.
The keeper smothered, blocked and punched the ball at will as the Nigerian players went in search of goals.
5. Poor Pitch
The tournament was pushed back for one year due to weather conditions but one would have thought that it is an ample time to improve the quality of stadiums.
However as stressed by former Super Eagles star Daniel Amokachi who was part of the Eagles side that won the tournament in 1994, parts of the Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara had rough patches which did not allow for good play in some moments.
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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