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The Super Eagles revived their hopes of securing a place at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar following a 2-0 win against the Wild Beasts of Central African Republic at the Stade Omnisport in Japoma, Douala on Sunday, reports Completesports.com.
Leon Balogun and Victor Osimhen scored both goals for the West Africans in the first half.
Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr switched formation following his side’s disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Raoul Savoy’s men on Thursday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Rohr, who opted for 3-5-2 formation restored Maduka Okoye in goal with Alanyaspor defender Chidozie Awaziem joining Balogun and William Troost-Ekong in central defence.
Moses Simon and Jamilu Collins were deployed as wing-backs, while Joe Aribo, Frank Onyeka and Kelechi Iheanacho kept their place in midfield.
Also Read – Live Blogging: Central African Republic (CAR) VS Nigeria (2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers)
Super Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa, who was making his 100th appearance for the three-time African champions, paired Napoli forward Osimhen in attack.
The Super Eagles dominated the opening exchanges and were rewarded for their impressive display when Balogun slotted home a minute before the half hour mark.
The hosts struggled to get going in the game as the Super Eagles asserted their authority afterwards.
Iheanacho shot wide from the edge of the box in the 38th minute as the Super Eagles looked for the second goal.
The goal came late in the first half courtesy of Osimhen’s fine strike in the 4th minute.
The 22-year-old has now scored eight goals in 16 league appearances for the three-time African champions.
The pattern of play continued after the break with the Super Eagles in total ascendancy.
Onyeka was booked for a rash challenge in the 57th minute. Osimhen has an effort cleared off the line in the 57th minute after he was set up by Aribo.
A sloppy display by the Nigerian defence allowed Karl Namnganda a sniff at goal a minute later but the striker shot wide.
Nigeria made their first substitution of the game in 67th minute with Chidera Ejuke replacing Musa.
Balogun was replaced by Kenneth Omeruo in the 73rd minute with Innocent Bonke also taking the place of Iheanacho.
Osimhen fluffed a chance three minutes from time following a superb pass from Ejuke.
Nigeria maintained top spot in Group C with nine points from four games.
The Super Eagles will face Liberia in their next game against on Liberia Thursday, November 11 in Accra.
By Adeboye Amosu
44 Comments
GOOD GAME GUYS. NIGERIANS ARE BAD LOSERS. FOOTBALL IS A CONTACT SPORTS NOT A WRTTEN ESSAY.
Ejuke is a play maker and I will never be tired of saying it…….Coach Rhor please don’t return him to the bench when Iwobi return I beg you…….He is the creative spark we lack if not for the wings they normally confine him to…….Give him a free role to roam around the pitch and cause damage by dragging opponents out of the positions and creating chances for his team mates.
You are right,he only need to be releasing the ball a lot quicker, having said that,I’m also happy for the performance of awaziem,Musa has gotten his 100 caps and should now return to d bench or better still,retire
Ejuke is a playmaker only if he stops being selfish. The scoreline would have been 3 nil if released the ball to osimhen at the 91st minutes.
I will forgive him for that given that he was eager to open his account for Nigeria since the game was done and dusted…… Even with that he still had two shots on target as a number 10 playing only 24 minutes but Iheanacho playing as a 10 had no shot on target for 70+ minutes he was playing….. You get my message?
You got the nail at the right spot. Just two more Ejuke, SE will rule Africa. He is my man of the match.
Congrats@all. We redeemed our image but one thing is very glaring. Absence of Iwobi still affected the team. It’s a big eye opener that anytime Iwobi doesn’t play the Eagles struggle in the final third. So the task before Rohr is to quickly get Iwobi’s deputy going forward. To this end I Wana suggest, Ejaria, Olise , Eze, and Nwakali: I will have put Ejuke in the mix but seems he doesn’t have that sweet last ball in him and dribbles to the gallery. Another thing I observe is that our wingers are not effective and not to know their job.imagine two matches no assist by Simon or Ejuke. Pls can we Victor Moses back.i swear we need that guy. Till date no one of our present winger got his swagger, tenacity and output. Good luck SE . Good luck fans .Gooduck 9ja.
Ed
Sweet victory,though the team is still lacking in some areas—chiefly the attacking midfield department.
We need a spectrum of attacking midfielders to choose from and not to be held to ransome anytime Iwobi isn’t on parade.Some are even of the opinion Iwobi is a winger naturally,though I would opine he is rather versatile
The rumour mills have it that Ejaria has been cleared to play for Nigeria.What is stopping his invitation to add lustre to our attacking midfield department?
We need to as well double up on Michael Olise now that he is still free to play for any of the countries he is eligible for. He is a cultured attacking midfielder.
Obinna Nwobodo(though traditionally a central midfielder) could also be sounded out. The SE appears thin in the midfield generally.
Ademola Lukman is rumoured to have been cleared by FIFA to play for Nigeria. Whatever is hobbling his debut for Nigeria should be sorted ASAP. That guy is a suave and tenacious winger. He can as well play as an attacking midfielder.
Going forward, the Super Eagles need a bevy of her best talents as many as possible onboard.
If a very intelligent coach catch Ejuke and teaches him on how to play that no.10 role very well the world will surely marvel about him..we have a lot wingers already….
Ejuke is perfect no.10 with little furnishing mehn!
Congratulations to super eagles…at least they have stopped my unnecessary headache!
Forumites…Please stop clamoring for people who won’t play for Nigeria. I still see some people calling for Eze who has choosen to play for England U21! Let’s move on please!
Most of people that analysis football here don’t know anything about football or we call it sentiment, the reason nigeria lose our first game against central africa is the player don’t want to accept draw, they want to win by all means with defender they want to score, is not rohr fort but they want to win by all means.
Congrats to the Eagles. Not happy Calvin Bassey was not given his debut and Okoye should have been benched for the second consecutive match to make him get serious next time. Ejuke shd play with the team and stop being too rigid with the ball. I’m not surprised Rohr brought him just to wind down the time.
Heard some people advocating for Ejuke as number 10. Seems some fans don’t understand the role of a number 10.Most number 10s are born not made. A number 10 isn’t really a dribbling wizzard though dribbling is part of the attributes. But what a number 10 does is bring in teams mate into play:help keep possession : above all give the final attacking pass or penultimate attacking assist. Thats what Iwobi is born with. I don’t see Ejuke as a number 10 even 5yrs to come . He does not have it in him to knit the team together or give a sweet last ball. We can best use him to waste time by hanging on the ball when we are winning. I have watched Ejaria he can deputise for Iwobi. Good luck all SE fans
@ gowetok…..Ejuke is a perfect number 10 but a little desperate to meet up with lost time……he didn’t get international cap early and he has alot of players ahead of him hence the urgency in his game……he wants to make a mark to establish himself because he doesn’t see first team assurance…….If that dude is given assurance and made to calm down he will do wonders……He can hold unto the ball and creat chances for his team which we have seen him do in his club…….We need to settle him down in the national team and unleash him……at least as a start to an impending creative midfield haste which may include Olise Eze Ojaria and co.
Glad they won the match . This is my pros on the match . The 3-5-2 formation was amazing as it clearly gave room for midfield creativity . Joe Aribo was finally able to roam around the field creating the goal scoring chances that gave us the 2 goals . First by lobbing the ball for Leon to slot home the first goal and also creating the work for Ekong to pass to Oshimen to score the second goal . He created lots of chances and that I what I wanted to see him do for the national team , the same way he’s doing at Rangers .
Leon Balogun is a natural libero and it’s been a long since we’ve seen such players with such qualities. I always known that he’s got those attributes. Th thing is that there’s a lot of work to be done in the team in other for Leon’s abilities to be utilised .
Ejuke was so damn brilliant and yeah it’s such a great feeling seeing someone with dribbling runs for the national team, he’s still a work in progress as he can still do much more than dribbling runs as he can make use of scoring and creating scoring chances for his team . It’s still too early to say he’s the number as there are certain responsibilities for someone to bear while been given that number. Or called that number
Look at people Ike Pele, Maradona, Platini, Luther Matthaeus,Zico, Ronaldinho, Ruud Gullit, Jay Jay okocha, Zinedine Zidane, Steven Gerrard. These men were the number 10s who changed games and gave their team victories because they knowxehat they’re supposed to do and make it count .
I don’t know about Alex Iwobivif he’s got that nack to be the number 20 that were looking for. Nevertheless I still feel we need to look further for that is exactly what the Super Eagles are lacking at the moment .
Cons on the match
It has to do with team cohesion as there were sometimes it almost went off a the opposing team were so Deep with the defence that they almost capitalise on the slip in scoring the similar goal they scored in Lagos . Lots of work to be done.
Understanding Leon Balogun. Since I see him moving forward, there was a time he wanted to pass to a mobile player who could be on the run in other to take chances and feeling, instead the other player (s) remain in parallel lines with Leon which shouldn’t be so. As a half German , their football philosophy builds them including the defenders to enhance the attack with creative runs as wel as taking Goa scoring chances .
Since Aribo is showing so much free flowing midfield creativity , Rohr should stop limit him by making him a defence midfielder along with etebo and Ndidi. He’s a creative midfielder and should be allowed to express himself the way Steven Gerrard has given him such and he’s delivering .
I hope more work be done in the team
Am happy for Balogun for his first goal in the national team.
Osimhen should be careful. He should take the opportunity he have now to Cement his spot in the team.
I don’t blame Osimhen though. I will blame Oga Rohr and the entire coaching crew for Osimhen’s inability to be more serious in front of goal.
The coaches did not create competitions in the team. That is why there’s no seriousness in the team.
We saw that in the first leg and today as well.
Why Bassy didn’t play in today’s match, because we don’t have a coach.
Am also happy that Osimhen scored in this match but he have to be more serious because we have other strikers that more clinical than him, Dessers for example.
Anyway, Super Eagles will get a new coach before the Afcon in Cameroon or after the tournament in Cameroon, that is for sure 100%.
For now, we are watching NFF very closely. God bless Nigeria!!!
@Omo9ja. That match u just referred to was played 20 years ago. Is it the same TV that they used 20 years ago that you are using now, or the kind of phone or camera, etc. Can you compare kids born nowadays to those born 20 years ago? Those kinds of players of that time – Finidi, Kanu, Okocha, Ayegbeni, Aghahowa, etc, that were born and raised in Ajegunle, Benin City, Ibadan, etc, can u compare them to today’s Aribo, Iwobi, Ekong, Balogun, Ola Aina, Okoye, Semi Ajayi, most of whom were born and/or started their football in UK, Germany or France. You are here comparing them to guys who played barefooted on red sands and poor pitches all over the country!!! Besides, why shd we as a country be so savage and backward to subject pros who are millionaires and a big brand like Super Eagles to such low standard facility called stadium. Hatred na bad thing. Walahi!
It’s not a coincidence that Aribo’s game improved when he found himself on a good pitch. Same thing goes for the rest of the team. Asking boys who play on lush pitches every week to come and play on a potato farm is giving our opponents an undue advantage.
Wow @Pompei. Is that what you got to say after both legs of the game?
During the world cup qualifiers years ago, Super Eagles went to Sudan to play on a very bad pitch, Eagles still entertained the fans and won the match 3-0 or something.
From now on, Oga Rohr followers should not be taken seriously. I won’t waste my time on you people no more.
With what we saw with the Super Eagles coaching crew, nay, they are not good enough to continue period.
If you are telling me now that the Teslim Balogun pitch is not good to win against CAR at least the pitch is manageable for our team to tie the match.
We won today match and can you boldly say we can compete with Algeria, Senegal and Morocco?
How far can we go with Oga Rohr Super Eagles? If you remember, it is almost six years of Oga Rohr if am not mistaken.
I will like to hear from you Oga Pompei. God bless Nigeria!!!
Omo9ja you are a shameless person,how can you hate someone like this? Oga roha this oga roha that and funny enough he will end his comment with God bless Nigeria the God you don’t know.
Go and seat and think about ur life. Ok
The funny part is that no one is listening. Take the players to uyo nff
That Aribo’s pass to Leon was a telegram
Rohr souporters no get shame they are celebrating as if we won against Italy or France.
And Rohr’s haters are sad as if we have failed to qualify for AFCON once again, like it was in the days of their guadiolas…..LMAOOooo.
Biko what happened to your new-found “tactically prolific” tin-god Savoy today…LMAOOoooo. Custom seize in tactics for Murtala Mohammed Airport when dem dey comot for Nigeria…??? LMAOOooo
Your 3 days festival of vomiting sewage is over ehn….ndo o. Come back in another one year when we draw or lose a match again…..LMAOOoooo
THIS MAN KEEP QUITE WHO ARE THE HATERS OF ROHR . MUST WE ALL REASON THE SAME WAY YOU REASON. NOBODY HATES ROHR ,PERSONALLY I HATE HIS TACTICS AND RIGIDITY. SO PLEASE DO NOT BRING DIVISION HERE THIS IS JUST A FORUM WHERE WE ALL EXPRESS OURSELVES.
MR STAN YOU ARE RIGHT . I DO NOT KNOW WHERE ROHR SUPPORTERS THINK WE HATE HIM ,PEOPLE LIKE MR STAN JUST POSTED WHERE ARE THE HATERS OF ROHR . IT IS FINE WE WON TODAY YET AM NOT IMPRESSED BY THIS CLUELESS COACH, FROM THE START OF THE MATCH I SAW DETERMINATION IN THE FACE OF OUR PLAYERS THAT THEY WANTED TO REDEEM THEIR IMAGE , IF YOU ARE CLOSE TO THESE PLAYERS YOU WILL KNOW THAT AT CLUB DISCUSSIONS THEY FEEL EMBARRASSED AT CLUB THAT THEIR COUNTRIES ARE BEATED BY MINNOWS NOT EVEN KNOWN TO THEIR FRIENDS IN THE CLUB. SO TODAY’S VICTORIES CAME ABOUT BY THE GRIT OF THE PLAYERS NOT FROM THAT OLD MAN TATICS
Hahahahaha…today’s win came by the grit of the players….LMAOOoo…why didnt their grit win the match in Lagos too…..LMAOoooo
Anytime the SE win, its the players…anytime they lose, its the coach….LMAOooo and then they com around to save face all the time they have been humbled, with their ‘we dont hate the coach’ rhetorics …LMAOOoo.
What more hatred can there be, than accusing a man of raising dust when he has just fallen into a pool of water….??? LMAOOooo
34 “competitive” matches 22 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses. It was the “grit” of the players that won those 22 games…..LMAOOoo…the only time Rohr has worked in 5 years is the 6 we lost…LMAOOooo.
“We dont hate the coach”….LMAOoo. Thank you…we have heard your words of exhortation…..LMAOOooo
That is why we say some people don’t have sense like the one aboved me. They will use their hand and type nonsense. Imagine saying victory come by players grit but u could have blame same players when they lost in Lagos. It’s when they lost they will say the coach is bad but when they won they will come back and say it was luck and players individual brilliance. Nawa for some people the only sin of this man is because he is white and didn’t give in to their shady deals.
Hehehehehe…Tayo..other coaches who have coached the SE never relied of the players individual brilliance. The is the first and only SE coach to ever rely on the brilliance of its players is Gernot Rohr. Thats why he ahs the highest win ratio of them all….LMAOOooo
I dont know which coach does not rely on the individual brilliance of his players. Clubs and coaches just like splashing hundreds of millions of pounds for the fun of it….LMAOOoo
When the team wins, it the players that should be praised…when they lose its the coach….LMAOOooo. 22 competitive wins out of 34 and still counting….LMAOOoo.
May Rohr continue to use the individual brilliance of the players to win until we win the AFCON and reach Qatar 2022 in grand style.
Bro, I tire for some people here, A coach. Selected his players, drew his match formations and won a match and they said, it was by players determination, lol, !! To me that’s a senseless talk, Our coach is not prefect, we know, but currently he is doing a decent job. There is room for improvement, that we know, and the coach equally knows this. I believe we will be ready before the AFCON, we really need to up our game to match the likes of Senegal, Algeria and Morocco.
This team can do betterin a good pitch, nff stop playing in Lagos go back to uyo.that Ejuke guy is not a bench material please.combine this guy and chukweze.
After the previous game against CAR, I noticed that a lot of people hit the panic buttons and started deriding the Coach and some of the players but I thought it was a blessing in disguise as it brought our players back down to earth. It reinforced the fact that they were not unbeatable as they might have thought. If the defeat had not happened, we would probably lose in the knockout stages. Silently, I was hoping for something like that to happen before the knockout round as it would have been very painful to accept in the knockout round as there would have been no chance for redemption. Now that it happened, I am pretty sure that we will qualify for the world cup as our players now understand that winning matches during World Cup qualifiers is not a given in Africa. I am sure (or hope) that the defeat will be their driving force towards qualifying for the World Cup.
You are missing the point here @Sunny.
We understand that loosing to any opposition is normal in football ⚽️ but the way you present the team counts a lot.
You can see that we don’t have game plan and strategy at all.
Even our players were the reason we won against CAR today not that our coaching department was up to the task.
If you in doubt, that Bassy would have played in that match and he would have changed the chemistry of the Super Eagles team.
We don’t have a coach that can read the game and interpret the game period.
You may happen that Oga Rohr victorious in today’s match but as we moving to another page of the world cup qualifiers, do you think the way we played against Cape Verde and CAR, do you think the gaffer can win us a tea cup?
God bless Nigeria!!!
Our players were the reason we won against CAR today not that our coaching department was up to the task….LMAOooo. Why didnt your players win on their own home soil….LMAOoo. I guess its your players who tweaked the tactical set up and formation of the team to 3-5-2 for todays’s match too….LMAOOoo.
Every win is always the players’…..every loss is always the coach’s.
22 wins in 34 competitive matches was down to the players…..6 losses were the only time the coach worked….he was sleeping in the other 28 games. The height of insanity….apologies to Sunday oliseh
Omo9ja..I am not in the business of recommending players or tactical formation to the Coach as that is definitely above my payscale. I am a football enthusiast and played football to a certain level but never a trained coach. My mantra has always been ‘let us support whoever is in charge and never force a player or formation on them.” A lot of people, including yourself, I must say, always think they know more than the proffesionally trained coach. This is not so. I know what I am trained for and would never accept a charlatan trying to tell me how to do my job.
I want to ask you something. Prior to Rorh taking charge of our national team, are you aware we missed 2 consecutive nations cup? Are you aware we were ranked 72nd in world football and 15th in Africa? We’ve qualified for back to back nations cup, gotten to the semis of the African nations cup in Rorh’s first attempt, qualified for the World Cup and all these were done with ease. Please I’ll like you to tell me our current FIFA ranking and if the rankings shows progress or not
Hey you stop the trash talk, not everyone is not a supporter of a coach that losses 3 points to a team ranked 100 places lower.
@ Dr Simone, Germany lost to North Macedonia at home and heads didn’t roll, In Football, big teams lose to smaller teams, that what is called “upset”, The vital thing is how those big teams respond to the shock results their subsequent games, Gernot Rohr and his guards responded well beating the same opponent 2-0, they have atoned for that bleep at home and that should rest the case.
Common sense is not common. There is no point responding to a senseless being whose only contribution on this forum is A is better than B….LMAOooo.
France lost to finland on home soil, Germany lost to N. Macedonia on home soil. The world has not ended for either team. France has gone on to win the ENL.
He should go hang himself because we lost a game to CAR.
Any team in World Football can come. Just have Ndidi and Onyeka in the middle and now one is passing through lol. Then realise Chukwueze and Ejuke down the wings and rotate Osimhen spear heading.
Onyeka and Ejuke are BALLERS!!!!!
Omo9ja,
I have told you this a thousand times.
Gernot Rohr is not the best coach we can get. I totally agree.
However, Gernot Rohr is the best coach we can currently afford.
Now, any unbiased observer will readily agree that our boys performed better in Douala. Why did this happen? The superior pitch was a major reason.
Even if we hire Roberto Mancini or Jurgen Klopp, what magic are they going to perform at Teslim Balogun stadium?
Rohr may not be world class, and his decision-making and match reading may be questionable. But this is what our money can buy at the moment.
THIS IS THE BEST WE CAN AFFORD.
All anger and frustration should be directed at NFF ONIGBESE only. If they were competent, we would have money to hire a better coach.
So we have no choice but to “manage” what we have. And this coach we are “managing” has in the space of 5 years qualified us for a world cup, 2 Afcons, brought us an Afcon bronze medal, discovered several new talents, made Nigeria attractive to our foreign-born talents, is on the way to qualifying us for a second world cup. All without salary and playing home games on rubbish pitches. Coping with the corrupt, incompetent, inept NFF ONIGBESE.
I see his shortcomings, and I feel we need a better coach. But unlike you, I’m willing to give him some credit and recognize his achievements.
How far can we go with Rohr? The more important question you failed to ask is – HOW FAR CAN OUR MONEY TAKE US?
That is the more pertinent question.
Omo9ja,
The ideal thing in my opinion would be to replace Rohr with a world class coach.
Assuming we replace Rohr with Carlo Ancelotti.
Ancelotti can come in and work for let’s say 3 years.
A qualified Nigerian can under study him in that time period. Learn his systems, processes and procedures.
After Ancelotti’s tenure, the Nigerian coach can then take over.
However, Ancelotti, and other similarly gifted coaches, will not tolerate non-payment of salaries. So the money to pay salary must be available.
HOW FAR CAN OUR MONEY TAKE US?
If we don’t have the money for this, we do the next best thing – MANAGE THE ONE WE HAVE, that is Gernot Rohr.
Fortunately, Rohr has come in and is actually getting some things done. We are like a traveler with money for economy class who is flying first class. If you have some problems in first class, dare you complain? Judging by your purchasing power, you have no business in first class anyway. So anything you get in first class is a bonus.
Nigeria, so called GIANT OF AFRICA, lacking proper stadia to play on, lacking a proper football league, owing coaches salaries and players bonuses, owing left, right and center, run by a corrupt, inept football house, wants to win Afcon and world cup.
Really?
Going by what we invested in football and the shoddy, ramshackle way we run our football, WE DON’T EVEN QUALIFY TO HAVE A NATIONAL TEAM. YES, WE SHOULD NOT HAVE A NATIONAL TEAM! Not to mention qualifying for tournaments. Yet, Rohr has qualified us for a world cup, 2 Afcons, and we even have an Afcon bronze.
Omo9ja, siddon there and be blaming Rohr, while you ignore the bigger problems!
I’m surprised that after many Roh has not been able to put together a team for Nigeria. What we say yesterday was an individual’s efforts, not a team.