Completesports.com’s ADEBOYE AMOSU appraises the performance of Super Eagles, player-by-player, in their 0-0 draw against the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone – a 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game at the Siaka Stevens Stadium, Freetown on Tuesday…
MADUKA OKOYE 7/10
Made two big saves in the first half. The young goalkeeper did enough to silence his critics.
KEVIN AKPOGUMA 6/10
Got the nod for the right-back position again despite his poor showing in the first leg in Benin City. The Hoffenheim defender passed the test this time around. He was replaced by Chidozie Awaziem in the 73rd minute.
LEON BALOGUN 6 /10
A true general at the heart of the defence. Balogun helped ward off the threats of Kei Kamara and Mustapha Bundu in the game.
WILLIAM TROOST-EKONG 6/10
A spirited performance from the centre-back. His understanding with Leon Balogun was key in Super Eagles keeping a clean sheet in the game.
Also Read – 2022 AFCON Qualifier: Super Eagles, Leone Stars Draw In Freetown; Nigeria Still Top Group L
OLA AINA 6/10
A lively performance from the left-back. Aina justified his selection ahead of Zaidu Sanusi and Jamilu Collins. He defended well and also supported the attack.
OGHENEKARO ETEBO 5/10
He was the main man for the Super Eagles in midfield. Etebo was replaced by Shehu Abdullahi in the 39th minute after picking up an injury.
JOE ARIBO 5/10
Failed to stamp his authority on the game. The Rangers midfielder was replaced by Semi Ajayi seven minutes from time.
ALEX IWOBI 6/10
One of Nigeria’s best performers in the game. Made himself availbale for the ball all the time and also helped defensively.
SAMUEL CHUKWUEZE 5/10
Came alive a little bit after the break. Teed up Kelechi Iheanacho after a mazy run down the right in the second half but the Leicester City blew the chance.
AHMED MUSA 5/10
Kept on the pitch for the entire duration of the game despite a not too impressive performance.
KELECHI IHEANACHO 5/10
Wasted a glorious chance after the break. Didn’t do much in the game.
SUBSTITUTES
SHEHU ABDULLAHI 6/10
Proved a capable replacement for the injured Oghenakaro Etebo. Helped in boosting the defence and joined the attack as well.
CHIDOZIE AWAZIEM 4/10
Replaced Kevin Akpoguma in the 73rd minute. Did well not to concede a penalty late on.
EMMANUEL DENNIS 3/10
Took the place of Kelechi Iheanacho with seven minutes remaining on the clock. Not enough time to show what he can do.
SEMI AJAYI 4/10
Introduced in the place of Joe Aribo in the 83rd minute to help solidify the midfield. Did his job well in the few minutes he spent on the pitch.
16 Comments
so, what with substitutions 7 minutes to go … textbook coach Rohr , well done sir
Iheanacho really wasted chances,I watched the game a little bit on Twitter ,but it was a woeful performance by the eagles,going forward,I think the best thing to do is to stop this over dependence on foreign players which are majorly average players without the required rugedity and strength for African football,a mixture of local and foreign players will do the magic,genart rohr should also be relieved of his duties cos I don’t he sound enough to help us achieve what we want to achieve
Please we need to look into Rohr file ,what is the need to invite players on form and keep them on the bench wasting ,why the likes of musa and iheanacho are there walking about ,plz rohr step down ,you are too old for this job ,and also learn how to make substitution early enough so that there can be an impact on the game from the lads coming in.
Nigeria can never achieve anything under Rohr. His decision making is a suspect. Games against Algeria, Argentina, and Ukraine and now Sierra leone are strong empirical evidence.
You guys should leave Rohr alone! In football, some days are good and some days are bad. These were bad times, and the team did not even lose any of the matches. Before Rohr came, Nigeria was not performing well at all. He is trying. Make una leave the man alone! We need consistency and blending among these Nigerian players. They are all good players. What you people should be blaming is the standard of football facilities in Nigeria. Who told NFF to take the match to Benin when we have the Nest of Champions in Uyo? We are still the group leaders. Take a chill pill people.
Okoye earns his first international clean sheet! He made some good saves in the game, and looked much more composed.
There is no going back as far as l am concerned. Rohr must go. This should be the slogan of every Nigerian football fans everywhere around the World. He just don’t have what it takes to manage a club or talk of a National coach.
Rohr must go. This guy have no clue of what he is doing. Rohr just to go.
After seeing the barren field our boys were subjected to, I could not blame them for drawing the match……and by implication refuse to blame Rohr. No manager con perform a miracle on that pitch.
The problem is corruption infested and unprofessional CAF. What does it take to maintain a pitch to standard? How can our football develop with this gross neglect of our infrastructure?
Why not host home games elsewhere if the stadiums are unplayable?
A BIG SHAME!!!!!!
@KangA… try something else. Stop blaming the pitch, if we are insulting CAF, which one did we present at home? Was the Benin Stadium turf world class or Caf Standard? More or less we are in same place with Sierra Leone… this is Africa and things like these are expected. If we wanted to protest their turf and not play football our players and officials ought to have shun entering the pitch to register a genuine protest and get themselves walked-over… as long as we entered the pitch, even if it’s on concrete then we have to play and not throw excuses… we were not just savvy and aggressive enough… throughout the game I did not see any Nigerian forward or midfielder troubling the S/L goalkeeper with outside 18yard box shots! Did we blame the pitch against Algeria? Against Tunisia? Again, did we blame the Benin Stadium pitch? Why must we now blame the pitch in Sierra Leone… the truth of the matter is… Gernot Rohr has nothing more to offer… period! I doubt if we can even qualify for World Cup with this coach… go and watch Cape Verde vs Cameroun in younde… it ended goaless on a good turf. I doubt if we can scale Cape verde with very confident players, most who grew up and are playing in Portuguese league in our world cup prelim group qualifiers… I just won’t allow the underperforming stars in Super Eagles fool me… they lack real spirit of competition… reason why we must look for more hungry players to push these current relaxed regulars for spots in the team! Did Super Eagles expect Camp nou to be brought to Free Town for them?
“……this is Africa and things like these are expected. ….”
Wrong!! Then you are agreeing with fascist TRUMP for describing Africa as shithole. Yes we have a fantastic pitch in UYO which, again corrupt officials avoid—collecting envelopes and taking matches to obscure stadiums.
Those players are professionals. Do you want them to put their careers at stake with deliberate injuries?
Many countries in Europe with excellent infrastructures are not half as rich as African countries. Is it a miracle that no foreign teams win S/L at home? They have stagnated their soccer instead of developing it. Damn fools.
@KangA… That fact you quote my text and labeled it as wrong takes nothing away from the truth… ask yourself if Akwa Ibom stadium is a National Stadium? What happened to your two national stadium in Abuja and Lagos? Face reality and stop acting on emotion… Our culture ain’t different from Sierra Leon’s…
Can you kindly name a very credible replacement for Rohr under the present circumstances at the NFF.
I see some people clamouring for the invitation of homebased, be very care and stop being studied. All those homebase that were the best in the league before they left for greener pastures, where are they now in Europe? ,Were is Stephen Odey?
See, if we are going to solve any footballing problems in Nigeria, we have to start from the basics, from the infants, or better still, from children between 4 to 10, start grooming their talent from there and be patient (Government), let them learn the basics properly and let the tactical and technical aspect of football be imbeded in them, then incorporate them into the a well organized and politics free league. Any one asking for the invitation of homebased players, is one of the problems of this country, people that have put us in this situation of backwardness and underdevelopment, for they promote mediocrity.
What happened to steven odey, at least he is getting playing time in France, not like some player with no club getting a call up, or some bench warmers coming in to play 10 mins at club level. By the way he was a starter in Switzerland, but oga Rorh didn’t bother to look his way then. What is wrong with coach Rorh assembling a team in Nigeria, now that he has to live in the country. At least this whole pandemic period he would have kept himself busy creating a local team. But no NFF was busy paying $55,000 every month for what please?
whcih local team. You are speaking backward. The best of the local boys were given their chances and they blew it. Home biys that cant even qualify for chan or win african club cups. Common don’t be childish. Haba.
At least 90 percent of those playing abroad came from this local league. Please what chances were they given, to come and play 12 mins. Can you access a player in 12 mins. Oga abeg spare me. Nigeria has participated in 3 chan tournament, came 3rd and second respectively, so they not doing that bad. I believe keshi coached one of the teams, So why can’t Rohr do the same