Super Eagles interim head coach Augustine Eguavoen has made five changes to his starting line-up for today’s 2022 FIFA World Cup playoffs second leg encounter against the Black Stars of Ghana, reports Completesports.com.
Francis Uzoho kept his position in goal, with Ola Aina, William Troost-Ekong and Leon Balogun also named in the starting line-up.
Rangers left-back Calvin Bassey however takes the place of Zaidu Sanusi from the first leg.
In the midfield, Eguavoen opted for the trio of Oghenekaro Etebo, Frank Onyeka and Joe Aribo with Innocent Bonke and Kelechi Iheanacho dropping to the bench.
Read Also: Dennis Ready To Give All For Nigeria Against Black Stars
In attack, Samuel Chukwueze and Moses Simon make way for the duo of Emmanuel Dennis and Ademola Lookman.
Napoli forward Victor Osimhen will lead the team’s attack as expected.
Super Eagles Line-up Vs Ghana
Uzoho
Aina , Troost-Ekong, Balogun, Bassey
Etebo, Onyeka, Aribo
Lookman, Osimhen, Dennis
By Adeboye Amosu
54 Comments
Why the hurry to release starting players everytime?
Anyways, I wish Nigeria the very best
Had Eguavoen played with this line-up,Nigeria would have won in Kumasi
You are right
He was afraid. Now, he has little option
Eguavoen seems to be a man who’s never afraid of ringing in the changes— quite a sharp departure from Rohr in that sense.
Well, let’s enjoy the game as it slowly unfolds
Nice line up but the midfield can do with +half displaying from Ademola Lookman and Dennis to help out defensively. Then all that will be left is courage for the Eagles to win in front of the large crowd.
Definitely.
Fantastic line up. I dreamt yesterday that if onyeka and etebo starts with Aribo playing close to Oshimen, Nigeria will win with a 2 goal cushion and Oshimen will be handy with a goal as he will be a serious handful for the defence. I also saw that with lots of support coming from the midfield and defence, it was a very serious issue for the Ghanaian defence to hold him down. I am very sure right now as this line up was what I saw
Why did he bench Zaidu Sanusi?
Go and flog him naaa!
tactical reasons, the coach might want to switch to back three with Dennis/Moses and Lookman/Musa as wingback
With good zaidu on the bench,bassey will play well with intention of benching him.Good competition.
Wow, good line up, bold move. Let’s see what Dennis and Lookman can bring in the green white jersey. Ride on guys and Fly to Quater as the Super Eagles.
All the best guys. This is Nigeria’s best IX at the moment with the addition of Ndidi when fit.
Waooo waooo waooo…somebody is really listening and reading COMMENTS here for sure!
I can confidently beat my chest in humility that SE will soar in to QATAR 2022 WC in style!!!
VERY BOLD LINEUP AND VERY BALANCED AS WELL. ALL THE PLAYERS SELECTED WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW ARE IN FORM. THIS IS THE FORMATION I HAD IMAGINED FOR THE TEAM AND IM GLAD THE COACH HAS THE BOLDNESS TO START THESE PLAYERS. ARIBO TAKING IHEANACHOS POSITION, WE HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR THAT. DENNIS IN PLACE OF CHUKWUEZE WHO IS INJURED BUT HAS BEEN LARGELY INEFFECTIVE FOR THE SUPER EAGLES IN RECENT GAMES. LOOKMAN AN EQUALLY DECENT WINGER BUT WITH BETTER DISTRIBUTION, CROSSES AND KNOWS WHEN TO CUT IN MIDFIELD AND TAKE ON PLAYERS. SPEED, SKILL AND DIRECT PLAY FROM THE ATTACKERS.
CALVIN BASSEY IS SOLID AT LEFT BACK, HE HAS DECENT AND ACCURATE CROSSING ABILITIES.
LETS SEE HOW IT GOES. WISHING THE SUPER EAGLES ALL THE BEST TODAY.
I love this line up. It shows cerozo is ready to make the changes.. Simon should sit on the bench, he has been too relaxed lately, with lookman and Dennis taking his position and bringing competition to his starting 11 shirt he would sit up and play out fire when he comes as a substitute. Same with iheancho,.. competition brings the best out of any player , even a maduka will sit up when next he returns to the team knowing uzoho was doing great in his absence
Hmmmmmm. Flooding the team with newbies who are yet to settle into the team. Odikwa very very risky.This is the zenith of risks.
If it works out for good, we will praise the coach. But I really doubt. Because the pressure of this match is just too high to rely on these young, new and inexperienced players. The pressure and tension may be too much for their young shoulders
Ghana played with 6 newbies in first leg and they performed better than the regular starters. I dont see anything wrong with that. A good player is always a good player. On current the new guys are inform more the regulars. Would you rather prefer chukwueze to Dennis? Guys lets go there 3-1 final scores
This is the end of first half. What do you have to say now?
Was I right or wrong in my pre-match analysis?
I had advocated that Iheanacho should start from the wings. But with the much I have seen from Aribo at 10, I think Iheanacho should come back to his usual position behind Osimhen while Aribo drops down to DM.
I can never be a pessimist. I read and understand games
Who is young pls? Is it LOOKMAN at 24 or DENNIS or ONYEKA? How old is IHEANACHO and CHUKWUEZE pls??
My only little fear is the weather considering LOOKMAN and BASSEY are new to AFRICA. Other than that, nothing to fear.
Like I earlier posited, this team will beat GHANA hands down and fly like the EAGLE to QATAR!
Have been reading and was looking for that pessimist thinker and you didn’t disappoint me.
Surely, the he didn’t.. Hahaha
Good team selection
God bless you, I said same too, look what has happened.
Good lineup….no excuse…. straight winning !!!
Great and tantalizing line up. I wish Super Eagles a remarkable Victory over BS of Ghana. They (BS) put their trust in juju and black powers but we (SE) put our trust in the LORD Most High. Hence, victory is certainly our (SE) portion in Jesus name, Amen.
Victory! Victory! Victory! is ours!!!
Go Soar towering High the great Super Eagles of Nigeria!
Na una dey hail the LINE UP now o..
We no wan hear complain later o..
The only real concern here na Bassey. In Ghana, his recovery rate was poor when he overlap. I think Zaidu should have still started. I also feel Lookman should have started from the bench.
In all, I still think we are good to go. Everything is now in the hands of the players.
No excuses! We decided to fail with our own.
Nothing will change. Pressure is on you and we will take advantage. We are Ghana and will teach you footballing lessons as always. Go Ghana!
We wait and see @yaw. The truth is that your bp has risen seen you saw the line up
Surprise surprise. I never believed eguavon will listen. Great. Just the line up I wanted apart from Simon. But this great. Simon, iheanacho, chukwueze sitting on the bench will bring the best out of them. Good and very bold line up.
Any suggestions for how we can stream the match. It’s not live on hesgoal
https://socceronline.me/football-streams
You can watch it in HD for $1. Up Eagle
My only fear in the line up Is lookman, he might not understand the rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana and just play his normal without the passion attached to the game.. I trust bassey he plays in the Europa league and I watched his game with Dortmund, if he can destroy Dortmund in Europe he can do same with Ghana
Eguavoen has just reconfirmed to me that he is not a coach who has a say . This man is a media coach. Reading comments everywhere and now taking advice from the comment section of a lot of online sports platform . I don’t believe in this guy . Nigerian coaches are not good enough to manage the talent we have . My opinion remains I don’t see Nigeria qualifying
How are you so sure about that?You think a coach decides on his line-up according to people’s opinions?That’s unbelievable!
Eguavoen has assistants and I believe now they have played and have a knowledge of the Ghanaian team,they had to change their line-up to own the midfield because that is the key for them getting what they want in this important encounter.
Wow!…I really loved Rohr but what I hate most about him is what Eguavoen easily just did.(Changes). Rohr hardly change his team, especially, Moses Simon.
Okoye is the most informed Naija goalie in Europe forget about his National team performance but after him, Uzoho is next at home so, Uzoho is here,
Aina is the best right back in Naija team follow by Ebuehi, now he’s here, Bassey , presently in Europe, is the most consistent and the most inform, now he’s here, Oyinbo wall hadly consist goals so let them continue, after Indidi, Onyeka is next In premiership so wats up? Aribo is the Nigerian best offensive midfielder in Europe, now he has his best position for the first time, the two most popular Naija strikers currently are Osimhen for Napoli and Dennis for Watford. They both start and lookman and Moses are tie from the wings according to their current perfomances..so, eyes are on Moses, let’s shift them off him. Very nice Team selection.
Not a bad line-up. I see bravery and fearlessness in this line-up. This is the way to go with Super Eagles player. No recycling underperforming players!!
It is likely a 4 goal deficit match.
Prediction: Nigeria 5 Ghana 1.
Expect goals from: Osi9, Lookman, Dennis, Balogun, and Aribo.
Well well well…this is a turn up for the books!
As some have already observed, it seems Cerezo despite any previous limitations shown, tactically and/or personnel wise etc, is at the very least a humble, wise and flexible tactician, who will keep evolving and adapting as the situations arise and if this is what we have then let me be the first to say – Stand up Sir Cerezo!…the African Guardiola! in his own rights having earned his stripes to be where he is now.
Furthermore, let me clear my throat before I express my delight at the line up and the conduct and reaction of the gaffer, now I had refrained from predictions but hear me clearly when I say that tonight is tonight and I wouldn’t be surprised if we spell Ghana with goals tonight SE of Nigeria 5 – 0 Black stars of Ghana
Finally I must repeat that in Calvin Bassey we have a gem for now and the future – just watch out for any Ghana player that tries to get rough with him lol!
Enjoy the game everybody!
COYSE!
Am I the only one uncomfortable with this audacious lineup? The trio of Bassey, Lookman, and Dennis are pretty new to start at the same time in a match of this magnitude. I pray they can sustain the tempo of this game.
Very strong lineup Wish the supereagles of Nigeria a memorable win today
Very nice lineup
Good one..Bassey and Lookman for me though..Bassey should not forget his defensive duty first and foremost. .. he will definitely strike good rythem with Balogun and Aribo. Also, Lookman should not loose the possession of the ball unnecessarily. BY GOD’S GRACE WE SHALL BE PLAYING WITH THE LIKES OF ENGLAND, GERMANY, BRAZIL for the preparation of the world cup proper after today.
Very good line up. Difficult to fault.Credit to CEREZO n crew. Wishing SE some sweet victory in Jesus Christ Name n for HIS SAKE.
Balanced line up, very fantastic with 2 box to box midfielders in Aribo and Etebo. Ghana go chop Nigerian jollof in Abuja.
This is the first time you’ve done something special A.E….
I pray wisdom locate you to execute this game both TECHNICALLY AND TACTICALLY.
I pray for wisdom to also locate you to make the right substitution.
Finally;
With this line up, if we fail to win this weak team of whether BLACK STARS or BLACK MOON, then spiritual corngy if involve.
Kwasiakwa
Very impressive starting eleven. Change of formation to what most of the players are used to, rather than two wingers. Players are big game guys with good experience.
Well done Eguavoen and Amunike.
Go Super Eagles. Go.
Omo this Dennis is just crap. Overhyped. Etebo and onyeka need to up there game. This game is winnable
Amao in for Aribo
Musa in for Dennis
now!!!!!!
All those people shouting Rohr out.
Say una body don calm down now.
Oya how market? You benched your left back Zaidu Sanusi – a serial Champions league campaigner and regular with FC Porto purely on the basis of a 15 minute cameo in Kumasi. You kept Oamar Sadiq who has scored more goals than Lookman and Dennis combined the bench for 80 minutes. What were u expecting? Tribalism and religious bigotry, along with the idiot who masqueraded as your coach ruined you.