Former Stationery Stores of Lagos and ex-Green Eagles midfielder, Adebayo Gbadebo, has exclusively told Completesports.com that the Super Eagles have all it takes to defeat Libya’s Mediterranean Knights in Benina, in Tuesday’s AFCON 2025 qualifying Group D tie.
Gbadebo, who is based in Thailand and a Pro Licensed coach, told Completesports.com from his base in Bangkok that the Super Eagles have the quality of personnel on the field to secure the maximum points, thereby completing a double over the North Africans.
“We’re Nigerians, we rise to occasions. I think the Super Eagles’ technical crew must have seen by now that the Libyans are not pushovers and that they have their game plan too,” Gbadebo said.
“But despite whatever game plan they come up with, I think this time, they’re going to come out; they won’t sit back or play the ‘low block’.
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“This will give our team more opportunities for an attacking game. It’ll be an interesting match. With what we have as the Super Eagles, I think we’ve more than enough materials to get the three points in Libya.”
However, Gbadebo added a caveat.
He noted: “It’s not going to be a tea party. It won’t be a stroll in the park. We will get victory in Libya on Tuesday, but it all boils down to the technical preparation and capability of our technical crew and how we approach the game.”
The 50-year-old coach congratulated the three-time African champions for securing three points in Friday’s tough tie at Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, Akwa Ibom.
Gbadebo remarked: “Yes, I watched the match, and I’d like to congratulate the Super Eagles for the valuable three points. And also, to all Nigerians, especially the coach and all the players, I want to say a big congratulations. The three points bring us closer to qualification for the 2025 AFCON in Morocco. Our joy is in getting victory in the game.”
He further told Completesports.com that the Super Eagles’ game against Libya did not differ from his earlier observations.
“As a coach, a professional and Pro Licensed coach, I observed that the same problem still exists in the team. But I wouldn’t want to comment too much on that because I wasn’t present at their training, and so I don’t know what they did in preparation.
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“Whatever they do in training reflects in their performance. When you’re playing a team that uses a ‘low block’ and our response is what we saw in the match (vs Libya), it becomes difficult to score unless we get a break from a set piece or other opportunity. I think we need to do more because, when we face tough World Cup qualifiers, we must be tactically better than our opponents.
“When you look at the tactics, the Libyans were far better. You could see they executed the ‘low block’ very well, and they were able to play from the back. We didn’t apply enough pressing to show that we had thoroughly studied their team, despite the quality we have in both attack and midfield.
“Our pressing wasn’t strong, especially against a team with players not of the same high standard as our own. So, we need to get things right.
“We need more sound backroom staff or technical crew members who can effectively support the head coach, provide critical information, and help make timely corrections to improve our performance. But, as I said earlier, the three points are very important, and we got them in the end.”
By Sab Osuji
