Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has named his starting line-up for today’s encounter against the Wild Beasts of Central African Republic, reports Completesports.com.
Rohr opted for Francis Uzoho in goal ahead of the duo of Daniel Akpeyi and Maduka Okoye.
Ola Aina will feature at right-back, with Leon Balogun and William Troost-Ekong occupying the centre- back position. Jamilu Collins is preferred for the left-back position ahead of new boy Calvin Bassey.
Joe Aribo, Frank Onyeka and Kelechi Iheanacho will operate in midfield.
Read Also: Live Blogging: Nigeria vs Central African Republic (CAR) 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier
Napoli forward Victor Osimhen will lead the team’s attack. He will be supported by the duo of Moses Simon and Chidera Ejuke.
Super Eagles Starting Line-Up Vs CAR
Uzoho
Aina
Balogun
Troost-Ekong
Collins
Aribo
Onyeka
Iheanacho
Simon
Ejuke
Osimhen
62 Comments
Nice lineup…. congratulations in advance !
Just confirmed.. AIT n N T A are showing the match live. Tune in…
I hate seeing Iheanacho in the midfield but this coach always makes this same mistakes over and over again. Iheanacho has never impressed as a midfielder. This is the first time I’m criticising this coach but truth be told, doing same thing and expecting different result is not so bright if you ask me. All the same, Iheanacho doing well today doesn’t mean it’s a good fit for him. The team we are playing against, doesn’t pose the kind of conondrum that bigger playing nation will show. Just not happy with this limitation of Iheanacho by this Coach
it’s not a mistake it’s a deliberate attempt let it be he knows far better than you
My thoughts exactly @JOEL. Kelechi is not a natural midfielder (does best as a supporting striker) and offers little value in that role as he’s not so good dribbling or locating strikers with telegraphic, defence-unlocking passes. Perhaps a Bonke would have sufficed. Otherwise, not a bad lineup.
This FIFA Qualifiers first round should be done and dusted for the SE by Tuesday. The real battle will be the teams to pair in the second and final round.
The whole idea is to have him operate as a fake number 9 thereby giving him enough room to operate and support osimhen in the long run. The coach knows what he’s doing. Make una cool down. So far so good. The line up looks good.
This is more of a 4-2-3-1 that can morph into a 4-4-2 when we are not in possession, with Ejuke and Simon helping out in defense and Iheanacho playing close to Osimhen all the time, and a 4-2-4 when we are attacking.
Iheanacho is not playing in midfield…forget all these fictitious reports about iheanacho playing in midfield. He’s going to be more of an 8, a SS or a Trequartisa as the case may be call.
I dont see anything Rohr has done wrong here. We should let the man be.
I think the idea, of including ihenacho in the MF is to play the AMF, he perform well ,because of is unique passes
Meanwhile, Cape verde just defeated Liberia. 2-1 is the scoreline
Oya let’s d online coaches come and start wailing as usual. Nobody teach him to start ejuke now I know they will complain about mosses Simon lol
@Tayo……lol….Trust na, they will always have something to talk about. atleast both Uzoho and Ejuke are starting.
This line-up choke… They plan to switch as the game flows…4:3:3 TO 4:2:4 TO 4:5:1.
It’s going to be a fast game because everybody on this list dey run (except the oyibo wall of course), sebi una say our opponent name na CAR, dem go see Vehi-eagles.
My only worry is the state of the artificial pitch which will be a factor for or against SE.
Are you so dumb to understand that Kelech plays behind the main striker? If Kele no start na wahala. Lol
This person is trying to say musa should have been used as 10 once more. You don’t get him.
Please where can we see the match? any links?
Just confirmed.. AIT n N T A are showing the match live. Tune in…
What a drab 45mins. The only take away are osimhen, iheanachor and moses.
http://www.hesgoal.com/news/88631/Nigeria_vs_Central_Africain.html
Just confirmed.. AIT n N T A are showing the match live. Tune in…
pls any link to watch the match apart from hesgoal. the site is messing up. thanks
Just watching the team arrive the Teslim Balogun stadium on NFF Live TV. They are singing praises and in high spirits.
This is a nice line-up for me. I’m not surprised seeing Iheanacho named in midfield in the absence of Ndidi and Etebo. Obviously, Aribo is playing a deeper role in front of the central defenders while Onyeka is assigned a box to box role. Thus, Iheanacho should be linking up with Osimehin in a supporting capacity, more like the old no.8.
How can one watch this match please?
I didn’t believe it when I firdt heard it but now it’s confirmed that this coach is not consistent with his relationship with players. Although, Uzoho has not performed badly in SE colors which I think is attributed to his club form. However, in a situation like this when he has been inactive in more than two months, placing him in goal ahead of a very active Okoye is offensive.
Considering the fact that we have witnessed situation where some players missed trainings/arrived late to camp (e.h seniorman) and get selected to start in SE matches by the same coach, this is an absolute injustice to our most active goalie Okoye. Okoye only missed one training and considering the fact that his last game was close to the first training, he should not be dropped to the bench based on this.
Based on the interviews made by the gaffer to always consider active players, it is criminal not only to start Uzoho ahead of Okoye but to invite him to SE ahead of active goalies like Osigwe and Adeleye.
I believe our SE GK issue will decide our fate in competitions and some important matches.
Inconsistency in players invitation and selection for matches is a major reason why this coach may not win a trophy. The others technical deficiency, late and wrong substitution.
Don’t get me wrong, I completely condemn nff attitudes toward the entitlements of players and staffs, but comments from the coach suggests he is not bordered or concerned about it.
Hohahahaha…..E never pain you reach, when e pain you well well you go drink rat poison.
Go and shoot Rohr because he is not doing things your own way.
Where are you coming from? Haven’t you read about his late coming and gaffer maintaining discipline in the camp
Leave the ignoramus. Because Iheanacho came late to camp the first time and escaped with it, the coach should allow it to now become a tradition without checkmating it. He should wait till all 11 regular starters take their turns in coming late to camp before addressing the situation…..LMAOOooo.
One by one they are coming out of their shell againnnn @ larry
Moses wasting all the corner kicks and free kicks, that’s not good at all… no threats from our strikers at all… this match is not inspiring….
We are missing Iwobi.The CAR team with their high pressing are doing a wonderful job,what we need is one moment of brilliance to unlock this well organised CAR defence line
I have analyzed the match before today and exactly what is happening in the match now.
CAR have clips down our wingers and I hope there’s plan B for the coaching crew.
CAR may not have quality players as ours but the Technically and tactically, they are the better side in the first half plus they are playing away match.
We have individual players but we don’t have a team. They did their best so far but with what I am seeing, we should be prayerful.
Osimhen is now a midfielder that holding the ball by himself and also as a striker.
Super Eagles need someone in the middle to hold the ball for the team but we can see now that we can see now that Onyekuru can play in that role because that is what he did in our last game.
Nwakali and Nwobodo will be shaking their heads now. We have the players.
Oga Pompei, can you see now that you can not put a pilot in the place of the bus driver?
Am praying for Nigeria to won this game , I don’t want Eagles to draw this game.
Onyekuru, Nwakali and Nwobodo are the missing links in this match.
Good luck Super Eagles. God bless Nigeria!!!
END OF FIRST HALF GOALLESS. IT IS OBVIOUS THE CAR CAME NOT TO PLAY BUT TO DEFEND .WE MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO ALLOW THEM SCORE A GOAL BY MISTAKE. WE MIGHT FIND IT EASY TO BEAT IN THEIR BACKYARD BECAUSE THEN THEY WOULD WANT TO BE A LITTLE OFFENSIVE. MY FAER WITH THE PATTERN I SAW OF THIS EAGLES IS THAT WHEN THEY ARE CONFRONTED WITH A TEAM THAT PLAY AS A UNIT LIKE THIS WE MIGHT FIND THEM DIFFICULT TO BREAK. THIS IS WHERE SKILLS OF PLAYERS AND CAOCH COMES IN. AM NOT REALLY SURE ROHR CAN REALLY DO MIRACLE IN SUCH A SITUATION BECAUSE HE DOESNT TAKE CHANCES OR RISK. CERTAIN PLAYERS LIKE VICTOR MOSES, ODION, AND MIKEL THAT ARE NOT IN THIS TEAM MEANS EAGLES DO NOT HAVE CREATIVITY , WHEN WE INCLUDE THE ABSENCE OF VILLAREAL CHUKWU AND EVERTON PLAYER THEN IT MEANS MORE PROBLEMS.
PLAYING AGINST COUNTRIES LIKE ALGERIA,MOROCCO,SENEGAL,TUNISIA,COTEDOVOIRE,EGYPT, CAMEROUN WILL REALLY EXPOSE US MARK MY WORDS. GOOD LUCK.
I didn’t like what I saw to be honest, either we play Iheanacho further forward ie a or one of the striking positions or he is on bench to hopefully maybe come on later and try influence the game/look for a goal, but I think playing him in midfield is a waste of a position and we are weaker for it, a specialised midfielder should be in that position, I am not sure of their names now but maybe Bonke can play there or Etebo if he wasn’t injured, but if we insist on having that attacking edge to the team shape (which I think was oga Rohr’s plan) then we must try another attacker there so step up Awoniyi, the main point is that Nacho should not play that role as even though he can be technical but only in large spaces so can not be effective in a tight midfield at any time let alone when your’e playing a team who are basically set up to defend and fight hard, they can win this game with that gameplan and the way we are playing if Aribo doesnt stop overplaying and if he does then at least let there be some attacking (forward) intent on the ball because all he is doing so far is try showboat and then either lose ball or pass backwards or sideways which makes no sense in this game because if we play with any attacking intent and concentration then this is a team we can beat 3 or 4 nil.
I don yan.
Awoniyiiiiiiiiiii
Balogun would soon cost 9ja a goal. The way he plays will result in a mistake if care isn’t taken. Simon is crossing as if he is the one that would head them (low crosses as he is short, ikeregbe lol). Very low crosses that defenders easily deal with. It has been happening for some time now. His crosses are always poor. This match has been truly poor to watch honestly. We still don’t play as a team, watch morocco and see good football but ours is very disjointed. We get long way to go at dis rate honestly
Fully agree with both points, both Simon and iheanacho should never be allowed to cross ball again, it’s a disgrace to see a whole national team who cannot produce one decent pass, Ejuke cross was much better, so keep him on corner duty period!
I can’t believe no one in coaching crew can brink up just our general very very poor set piece attempts whether it’s crosses, or free kick or in fact shooting in general! O ga o! What is man like Yobo doing there not saying anything? Mehn we need to wake up!
**Sorry that was supposed to say “one decent cross”**
BROS WE DO NOT HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO BUT A LONG DECISION TO MAKE .SACK ROHR YHERE IS NO FLUIDITY IN HIS GAME PLAN HE HAS NOT BEEN ALLOWING THE PLAYERS TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES
Awoniyiiiiiiiii
See defensive flop! Haaa…
Did i not say it?
Holy Moses……!!!!!!!!
CAR SCORES….!!!
And there goes tumbling our FIFA rankings.
Honestly bros, FIFA rankings is the least of our problems now.
Coach these guys came to defend and second half they put all their attackers, coach should have a plan B and our defender messed up there, strikers loosing Clear chances and we got punished
What a RUSH…..!!!
Now the group has been thrown wide open.
Crazy.
We don’t have a player who can give that creative spark in the midfield.
And when you continue wasting possession and missing chance after chance, you are bound to regret it later. That’s what happened today.
Iwobi is not this. Iwobi is not that. We can now see the engine that propels this team. A vehicle without engine cannot move. Iwobi has always being the engine of this team. Top managers with years of football experience ever ready to tell anyone this cos they have got eyes and not blind critics. Besides that, Collins is a real pretender. Slow n lack innovation. Was really slowing down the SE play. Well Rohr must admit that he has to bring more quality players in, as players are beginning to think their places are secured hence they can afford to be complacent. This is definitely a low point but it’s good for the team as the coaching were already talking of shutting down the door to new players. THAT WILL BE A GRAVE MISTAKE.
@GLORY… I beg to differ… even Iwobi is average… mind you, I say average meaning he is some player but has his own lows as a midfielder… this is the time to recruit real creative players in our midfield… get Ejaria, if Possible Dele Bashiru and Nwakali… try those… one will surely click… young Olise can also be taken serious this time… playing this way with zero verve in midfield, we cant even qualify for world cup… period!
Wow…this is still unbelievable…!
2 Professional Centre backs chasing the same ball….???
Holy Christ
When a man who has eaten from football himself told you Ekong is overrated and a mere unsteady comportless brawler of a defender… you who will get mesmerised seeing me play in my hayday will argue with me… you don see your almighty Ekong circus show today abi? Hahahaha…
Hahahahaha…See who is opening mouth to talk.
That same Ekong has played in the Serie A and now plays in the EPL….the last time I checked, the best you have ever achieved in your phantom football career is failing trials nameless clubs…..LMAOOOooo.
If at least Ekong is rated, even if he is overated. The last time I checked, you are not even near being rated, neither were you even on the squad list of Lobi stars in the season you claimed you played for them….LMAOOOoooo.
You summersalted from playing at the “highest level” to being an “affiliate” and later a “partaker” all within the space of 1 year.
When I raised this concern about our defenders not classy enough to be in the Top 20 in Africa few days ago, someone said that the article is trash, now we can see for ourself. Ekong and Balogun were chasing the ball against 1 striker and ended up gifting the striker a free strike on goal…………shambolic.
This match seriously exposed the tactical deficiencies of the Coaching crew, no set pieces player noteworthy in the team, many corner kicks and free kicks were all wasted, no incisive defence splitting passes, on and off ball positioning was very poor. Substitutions were not done to correct obvious lapses in the game, GR match reading ability is close to Zero.
Ahmed Musa surely has nothing much to offer in the SE for now, Simon is best suited for a substitute role, his crosses are very poor and hardly troubled the defenders
Aribo surely is not suited for African football, maybe he can thrive better at Tournaments though but he hasn’t really impressed me so far in all our competitive matches, no ruggedity, losses ball easily and never do much at recovering, no forward surge and cannot hold the ball well.
Ejuke should be given that no 10 role in the absence of Iwobi, GR should see what he can do in that position during training sessions, drill him hard for that role and see how he will fare. His dribbling runs in tight spaces will help in creating chances for the strikers surely.
Bassey and Aina should play wing backs in the next game while Akpoguma should be tried to partner Ekong and Balogun as a 3 central backs formation
Our midfield needs a real shake up, I will prefer trying Onyeka to shield the defenders, Bonke to play central midfield while Ejuke could be the playmaker
Awoniyi or Iheanacho can be a supporting striker to Osimhen, this 1-3-5-2 formation is what we need to unlock this CAR defence while maintaining our integrity at the back for the forays of the CAR forwards. Am sure CAR will want to come out to play in the return leg believing they can now beat us easily again thereby leaving space to operate for our forward line
And Okoye has served his punishment so he needs to get his spot back on Sunday. Thank God he wasn’t in Goal today, the fans would’ve roasted him alive for not keeping a clean sheet again
The SE really drop the ball today but am very much hopeful that if the coaching crew can do the needful as stated above, we will come out victorious on Sunday
I agree 100% with even the punctuations in your comment.
A goalless draw at home against CAR was going to be disastrous…but a loss is just pure wickedness.
We have been brought down to earth
Am I waking up from a bad dream?
hAHAHAHAHAHA….HAHA.. Abeg no dream say Omo boy dey drive U with full speed inside him CAR OOOO.
Am not surprised but i think the result though disappointing is good to wake everyone up. None existing creativity was why we lost. They must win in cameroon to redeem themselves. I still see CAR playing the same way and may depend on breakaway to shock us again. Am really sad!
I have posted two comments on this thread but it continues to get deleted… I know who is responsible for that… hahahaha!!!
People wey know how to insult ex-professionals when they offer candid advice… where una dey?
CAR that our NPFL homebased best 11 selected purely on merit can lash and beat o! Hahahaha… When we see Gernot Rohr is an old antiquated fraud… they wont let us hear word.
Why not even play the enterprising Calvin Bassey for a lethargic and lazy collins? I cant imagine Awaziem and Umeruo, real rugged Nigeria centric no-nonsense defenders who both bailed us out against a more tricky Cape Verde where wasted 90minutes on the bench?
Gernot Rohr is a dull man… certainly not a coach… please NFF help that mercenary out of his misery… hahahaha.
@Dr.Drey… the “all-knowing-football god” football Zeus of our time… can we get some stats on our laboured and hapless playing style today? One with mindset of a slave in 2021… I pity una! Hahahaha…
You are happy now, secretly praying for downfall so that he can come out to say,”i talk am” enjoy yourself while it last, meanwhile nothing make sense from your post
Hahahahaha… Christmas has come early for you today. That time of the year when people whose mouths have been closed for the larger part of the year can finally open it has come.
This is what they have been praying for for months now. Their mouths were sealed with the gallant win away at capeverde but an opportunity has been presented to them today to have some happiness in their otherwise painfilled lives….LMAOOo
Pls come back here on Sunday to vomit what you’ve just vomited here tonight…LMAOOo
This is a wake up call. It is good for us.