Nigeria progressed to the next phase of the 2014 world cup qualification yesterday after defeating Malawi courtesy of goals from Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses. The Super Eagles dominated the encounter throughout the whole 90 minutes of play. Despite getting the desired victory, Nigeria still has a lot to pick up from this match. Here are the five lessons we learnt from the encounter.
THE ATTACK LACKS FINISHING
One major flaw of the Super Eagles in the match was the finishing touches that were missing in the attack. Nigeria failed to fully utilize the advantage given by the inexperienced and shaky defence of the Malawians. It was obvious that the team lacked a clinical finisher. Chances were wasted in front of goal and this was very evident in the 68th minute when Musa wasted a clean one on one chance.
Emenike also shot over the bar right in front of the opponent goal in the second half. Teams like Ivory Coast or Ghana would have punished Nigeria for those missed opportunities. If we really want to become giants in football again then we have to take full advantage of our goal scoring opportunities.
MIKEL STILL HAS THE ATTACKING SPIRIT
John Mikel Obi played a vital role in the centre of the pack, as he does most times when he is on international duty.
The Chelsea star played an attacking role which allowed him to move forward in order to support the strikers. His fantastic link up play yesterday showed that the “old Mikel” who played at the World youth championship in 2005 is still alive and can be useful to his club and the Eagles if played in a proper position.
EAGLES HAVE A NON-CHALLANT ATTITUDE
Over the years, Nigerians have been familiar with the care free attitude of the Eagles during matches most especially when they are leading. The Malawi encounter was nothing different. We started playing and toying with the ball after the second goal. It was evident that the hunger and commitment wasn’t there anymore. This was justified when Moses started juggling the ball while the game was still in play, Efe Ambrose and Oduamadi also engaged in some couple of irrelevant dribbles and losing the ball cheaply with put the defence under pressure. This attitude might be a major flaw if they were playing against a better opponent
EAGLES NEEDS A GOOD SETPIECE TAKER
The Malawi match proved that Nigeria is completely dead in terms of set pieces. Gone are the days where we had specialist like Austin Jay Jay Okocha and Taiye Taiwo.
Three close range free kicks opportunities came our way but we failed to capitalize on them. In the past,we have seen situations whereby only one right set piece makes the different in a match. The super Eagles also squandered numerous corner kick chances which would have been a bonus. It is high time the team starts mastering their set pieces in order to have more advantages in front of goal.
THERE IS IMPROVEMENT IN NIGERIA'S GAME STYLE
This game also showed improvement in the style of play of the Eagles. The midfielders kept a good possession of the ball. The most interesting factor was the easy connection between Mikel and Onazi in the midfield. If these pair are given enough time and chances to play together more often, building Nigeria's game plan around them will be a perfect choice.
Haven said all these, we also have to commend the great work Stephen Keshi is doing. Like they say, “Rome was not built in one day”. I believe that if we continue with this pace, we will be regarded as one of the strong holds in world football once again. Up Eagles!!
Written By: Elubeku Oluwatobi
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