Former Ghana international John Paintsil has praised the Super Eagles for coping well under massive pressure at the Babayara stadium.
The Eagles held their host Black Stars to a goalless draw in Friday’s 2022 World Cup qualifyingplayoff first leg tie.
Despite playing in front of a vociferous home fans, the Eagles held th4eir own and were unlucky not to even go ahead to win the game after missing some good chances.
Also Read: 2022 WCQ Playoffs: Eagles Did Not Disappoint Against Ghana In Kumasi –Okocha
And reacting to the outcome of the game, Paintsil, a member of the Black Stars squad to the 2pp6 and 2010 World Cups, praised the Austine Eguavoen-led side for putting up a commendable display.
“Nigeria have done well in terms of coping with the pressure and they really did play, their calmness was very good,” Paintsil said on Super Sports.
“When you play away especially against Ghana you are expected to play long balls but when the Eagles get the ball they always try to build from the back.
“They took the game to Ghana and I must say credit to the Nigerians.”
Both teams will meet again on Tuesday for the second leg inside the Moshood Abiola stadium in Abuja.
The winner over two legs will qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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COMMENTS
The Super Eagles put up a surprisingly poor performance. Nothing is guaranteed at Abuja. A score draw will see Ghana through. Our technical crew could not respond to the immense pressure from the Black Stars. Nigeria needs a high profile manager. The crown is too big for Eguavoen’s head.
Super Eagles went away to Black Stars of G-H-A-N-A and came back with a scoreless draw yet you are calling for the sack of Eguavoen haha! Wet in una dey drink? Are you sure you are a Nigerian?
Tell them bro, ungrateful people, they think is easy to win under such a pressure. The Eagles were super and super. You can see the frustration in the stadium for the home crowd.
Don’t put all the blame on the coach. That will be totally unfair. Those instances we had the chance to win the match but lost, no coach will teach you how to react in such situations.
1. Onyeka put up a world class skill, sending the defender to the market by that lovely leg-over. What happened in the end? When he had all the time to pick his target, I mean the man to roll the ball into Ghana”s net, he chose a senseless swing into the head of Djiku. Was that Eguaveon’s error or incompetence? Wouldn’t the story have been different, if he had got that decision right? Or are expecting Eguaveon to do that for him?
2. Moses came face to face with Ghana”s goalkeeper and blasted the ball against him, when he could have easily chipped the ball over a hapless keeper, who was already on the floor, to two well placed Nigerian players in the box. Was that Eguaveon’s fault too? It’s a question of common sense. I don’t see any South American or an European player choosing those terrible options in those situations.
3. Aribo had a nice turn in the box after that beautiful pass from Kelechi but decided to blast the ball over the bar, when he could have easily picked his spot and buried that chance. Which coach will teach you that one? Why do we always blame the coach for player’s error?
We can judge the coach on the system he instructed his players to use, his formation, and substitutions. Which of the three were poor going by the circumstances the team found itself in Kumasi?
The players were very cautious, knowing how Ghanaians were eager to score. They patiently built their transition from the back, instead of resorting to long balls, releasing our attckimg players in the final third. Even though Ghanaian players doubled up on Moses and Samu in a 4-4-2 formation, Eguaveon switched tactics in the early part of second half, bringing in players who attacked from the middle. This really disturbed the Ghanaians and we almost got a goal as a result.
Eguaveon’s substaitions were spot on too. There was an injection of pace and urgency when Dennis, Lookman, Onyeka and Etebo came on. Not to forget the monstrous performance of Bassey when he came for Sanusi. He was very strong in tackles and was useful going forward. In fact, he did so well that he should retain his place in the first eleven in the second leg.
Over all, it was a very matured performance from the players because it will be very unfair to expect them to dominate the match, knowing the high octane nature of the match, the fierce rivalry between the two teams, and of course, not forgetting that we were playing away. A draw isn’t a bad result in match like this and for sure, we will release our arsenal on them in the return leg and get the job done.
Good analysis of Eagles’s error sir,but I totally disagree with your performance rating of Bassey over Zaidu at moment. I think Zaidu had a good performance yesterday, he was calm and courteous going forward, the beautiful cross to Osimhen and he was able to stop the Gyan boy to use his wing. Bassey was fantastic too but he need time to get integrated into the team.
Papafem that is another angle to this. I love that. I learned from that. I only fault eguavon because of his selection. He did not learn from afcon. I wonder why chukwueze should be starting. I wonder. Then iheanacho should start from the bench.
On chances, our players should take their chances. It’s important.
Your speech is likened to a toddler, that match was one of the biggest match of the Eagles in recent times, to be under pressure for about 70 minutes without conceding, you are here talking as if football is table tennis.
I think we should encourage the boys.. It was not an easy game.. This is world cup qualifier.. Every team wants to qualify.. Almighty Senegal lost to Egypt, Tunisia that lost to mali won as well.
We should work with the positives from the came..
Honestly I was impressed with baseey, while balogun didn’t give Ghana any space.. Onyeka should start, maybe with an etebo.. Hope bonkes injury is not too serious
Balogun was jittery at the beginning of the match that I was so worried his department will be prone to error. The physicality of the match is too demanding for Balogun, of course you are playing Ghana a very physical team.Kevin Akpoguma will be better in this kind of match, he is a very strong lady. However, Balogun was able to solved his physical problem against young Ghanians with his experience.
@Ako Amadi, are u aware that Italy with their high profile coach were knocked out by a team rated outside the first 100 best teams in the world. I think Egu did very well tactically. Better than what Rohr will have offered. Personally, I blame moses Simon for denying us an away goal.Thats why it’s necessaryto be in a team playing in the champions league. How on earth he missed such a glorious chance is better imagine than described
There is nothing like away goal anymore so just put that aside cos it doesn’t count.The rule has been changed. Kudos to our boys!
The Eagles were super today against the black stars under such an immense pressure at the Kumasi stadium believed to be a slaughterhouse for visiting teams. Ghana put up a good spirited display because of the support at the stadium, especially holding our strikers from scoring or getting chances. However, they will not get such a support in Nigeria, is going to be a different game. To me coach Eguavoen’s tactical plan really worked except that we didn’t score.
Some people commenting here can not every do jogging talkless playing 5 side football. Our Boyz tried very well. Ghana is not a small team. They are equally like Nigeria. They are professionals and skilful. We even lucky to escape defeat in that stadium..
True talk
I have always had my reservation about feature Chukweze and Simon on our wings in crucial matches of the type , I would have preferred Olayinka who plays anywhere upfront for his club e an during continental matches in Europe. Besides, he has consistently played Champions league and at times Europe league matches for the past 4 to 5 seasons. Then pair him on the wings with Emmanuel Dennis who also has a lot of big games experiences and instruct them to pump crosses into the six/ eight yard boxes goals will rain. Moses Simon and Chukwueze are not bad p.ayers but they both play the same way, they always run at the opponents defence or run down the flanks to the edge of the field thereby denying the top strikers passes.We can now see why Awoniyi could really score enough goals in Cameroun. Dribbling runs does not win matches, so we should stop praising those that rely on that style otherwise the likes of Oshimen, Awoniyi, Ighalo etc will find it difficult to score.
I have always had my reservation about featuring Chukweze and Simon on our wings in crucial matches of this type , I would have preferred Olayinka who plays anywhere upfront for his club even in their continental matches in Europe. Besides, he has consistently played Champions league and at times Europa league matches for the past 4 to 5 seasons. Then pair him on the wings with Emmanuel Dennis who also has a lot of big games experiences in Europe and instruct them to pump crosses into the six/ eight yard box, goals will begin to rain. Moses Simon and Chukwueze are not bad players but they both play the same way, they always run at the opponents defence or run down the flanks to the edge of the field thereby denying the top strikers passes.We can now see why Awoniyi could not really score enough goals in Cameroun. Dribbling runs does not win matches, so we should stop praising those that rely on that style otherwise the likes of Oshimen, Awoniyi, Ighalo etc will find it difficult to score.
The team did their best and they played to the coach instruction Ghana was lucky not to have conceded, kudos to Uzoho for me he was the hero of the night… with such crowd they where able to soak the pressure… see you in Abuja.. to a better pitch.
I am quite disappointed with the performance of the SE today and even more disappointed with the comments on this thread. Mediocrity is now celebrated . By every account Nigeria had a stronger team on paper and should have performed better. The Ghanians appeared more prepared , Hungary and geared up for it.
Having said that one must give credit to them for holding out for a draw. We had similar 2 leg qualifier against Ethiopia before the 2014 world cup, it was a similar situation. Very boisterous and hostile crowd, we went down 0-1 but our boys started to knock the ball around and we ended up winning away, that was a keshi led team. What I saw today was abysmal , the team looked disjointed as it was apparent that the team lacked the right balance in midfield. Black stars appeared mentally prepared as they showed intensity but we looked bewildered and out of sort. It also does not help when we fans are praising them for such performance, when a team starts winning all the 2nd balls, you know the team has been mentally prepared for the game. For those praising this performance , I will heed caution. If the SE are not careful, they could be bundled out of the world cup. These are the things required for the 2nd leg
1. Mental preparation. Black stars were up for it today whilst the SE did not show up. I can only lay the blame at the feet of coach cerezo. In the early exchanges, Black Stars were winning all the 2nd balls and dominated the midfield. Our players did not anticipate such intensity.
2. Eguavoen needs to up his game, Whilst The coach has been granting interviews all over the place , his counterpart has been grinding .I listened to Otto Addo’s post match interview and he mentioned that they watched & analysed 3 videos on each player before deciding on invitation. Stating that they knew all the players strengths and weaknesses, adding that they knew how to deploy them.
3.Midfield balance was all wrong. I do not understand Egus insistence to play Iheanacho as AM. For the 1st 30 mins in the 1st half Iheanacho was lost and how on earth he remained on the field is a miracle compared only to the Damman miracle. Iheanacho does not have the guile , legs to play the AM position excellently and I can boldly say that we played 10 v 11 today. BAsed on the evidence today, Etebo and Onyeka should play a midfield pivot and aribo playing behind osimhen in a 4-2-3-1. On the wings I will retain Moses Simon but Emmanuel Dennis comes in for me on the right. Zaidu & Aina retain their positions. I am not happy with the center back pairing of Balogun and ekong, they appeared too slow to the speedy Afena Gyan.
4. Amoo needs to be on the bench. We have a problem in this country and it is hurting us. We are always afraid to give youth a chance. We see this ridiculous trend even at political levels. Geriatrics are calling themselves youth and 50 years old are seen as too young. Going into the game, both teams had 2 teenage boys in amoo and fatawu ishaaku. The latter started the game and the former was not even listed on the bench. Fatawu ended up having a rasping shot at our goal that could have scored.We need to trust more in our youth.
5. Stop the corruption with gk dept. I think right now Uzoho is the best and most dependable goalie we have. His performance today makes you question Alloy Agu’s competence as gk coach. At the afcon in 2019 ,Alloy Agu kept faith with Akpeyi and we all know how that ended up but in the 3rd place match,Uzoho shone like a million stars ; making you wonder what agu was thinking. In 2022 , he kept faith with okoye and once again history repeated itself again, WE were sent packing but in the game against Ghana , Uzoho shone again.Mr Agu, it should be clear to you who your No.1 is now.
The eagles tried…I wish them luck in Abuja….
Choach Eguavoen should start Lookman, Dennis, Frank and Etebo in place of Simon, Chukwueze, Iheanacho and Bonke respectively, and let Aribo play as an attacking midfielder.
John ur wrong SE is as useless as ever i pray ghana win us comes tuesday to anable us go back as usual to drawing board
3-5-2
Uzoho
Ekong Balogun Ajayi
Aina Onyeka Etebo Aribo Bassey
Osimhen. Ighalo/Sadiq
This is our best bet. Our wingers are limiting our flying full backs and wasting space.
This will give us victory easily.
Nice line up. I also like a 4-2-3-1
Uzoho
Aina Ekong Balogun sanusi
Onyeka Etebo
Aribo
Amoo Simon
Osimhen
That’s the issue with us Nigerians. Right before yesterday’s match, I could recall almost everyone boasting if beating Ghana hands down even when a few comrades in this site advocated for caution and respect for the opponent. Now that the game has been played, we are still opening our mouths to boast. Truth is the return leg on Tuesday is as much as any mans game, any of the two teams can win. We should try to respect our opponent and know that no game is a walkover.
“Nothing is won, nothing is achieved. We have to continue to work in a serious and focused way, respecting the opponent but always believing in our abilities. Power Portugal! Go to Qatar!”
For Ronaldo to say this ahead of Portugal match with N. Macedonia, I think Nigerian fans should take a clue from this.