Izuchukwu Okosi
The Super Eagles of Nigeria defeated Liberia 2-0 on Saturday in Match day 5 of their penultimate game in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Tangier, Morocco.
The victory enhanced Nigeria’s chances of reaching the playoffs stage in March 2022.
As head coach Gernot Rohr and his team prepare for the test against giant killers Cape Verde who are on 10 points in Group C, Prime Business Africa’s Senior Correspondent IZUCHUKWU OKOSI writes on the importance of the win on Tuesday.
1. Serbia’s Win Over Portugal
Portugal were on the cusp of a 2022 World Cup berth in their Sunday evening’s clash (European qualification campaign) against Cristiano Ronaldo but lost the automatic spot from their group in the last two minutes of the game.
Alexandre Mitrovic headed in the winner to break the hearts of many Portuguese supporters and their national team. Portugal will now go through the playoff stages to try and qualify for the World Cup.
The importance of using the Serbia and Portugal game as an example is to highlight the fact that games are not won until the last whistle is blown by the referee.
2. Central Africa Republic, South Africa Wins In Nigeria
The Eagles must not take Cape Verde for granted. The guests will be coming to Lagos with big belief after Central African Republic defeated Nigeria 1-0 in October. South Africa few years back also picked up a win against Nigeria when expectations were high.
If Gernot Rohr and his team take the visitors for granted, there could be great consequences for that.
3. Portuguese Influence On Cape Verde
Just like the French national team is home to superstars from
Africa, Portugal is the ‘big brother’ version of Cape Verde players.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Pepe, Nuno Tevares, Nuno Mendes etc are some of the Portuguese stars who have their heritage from Cape Verde.
It means that the styles of play of these two countries are similar. Cape Verde are influenced by Portugal’s playing philosophy and that counts for something.
4. Lagos Crowd
Fans especially Lagos fans are fickle minded. One moment you could be the best team in their book and the next moment you are the worst side ever seen.
The Super Eagles must start the game on Tuesday on a scoring note and take the two halves as two different games to get the supporters on their side.
Any negative vibes would only serve to put pressure on the Nigerian 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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