Completesports.com’s ADEBOYE AMOSU rates the performance of Flying Eagles, player-by-player, in their 4-0 win against Qatar – the first Group D match of the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.
OLAWALE OREMADE 7/10
Didn’t have much to do in the game despite the frequent forays into the Nigerian box by the Qataris. He organised the defence well and his ball distribution was very good.
RABIU MOHAMMED 6/10
Made a superb clearance in the first half to deny the Qataris the chance of reducing the deficit. He will need to support the Flying Eagles’ attack more in subsequent games.
VALENTINE OZORNWAFOR 7/10
The Enyimba defender put up a solid display in the game. He received the game’s only booking for a rash tackle in the second half.
ALIU SALAWUDEEN 7/10
Preferred ahead of Igho Ogbu in central defence. He put up a fine performance which was capped by a goal from a corner-kick.
IKOUWEN UDOH UTIN 8/10
A man of the match showing from the Flying Eagles’ captain who made the assists for the Flying Eagles’ first two goals in the game.
JAMILU MOHAMMED 7/10
Lucky not get booked in the opening minutes of the game. The Kano Pillars midfielder protected the back four and was good on the ball.
TOM DELE-BASHIRU 7/10
The Manchester City starlet was a delight to watch on the ball, even though he tended to play to the gallery at times. Took his goal chance well before he was replaced by Nnamdi Ofobor.
KINGSLEY MICHAEL 7/10
Proved his class with a sublime pass for the Flying Eagles’ third goal of the game scored by Tom-Dele-Bashiru.
OKECHUKWU HENRY OFFIA 7/10
Scored Nigeria’s second of the game and could have added another one but for his poor finishing. He will do well improving on that in subsequent games.
MAXWELL EFFIOM 8/10
Opened scoring for the Flying Eagles, and worked his socks off in the game. He was replaced by Success Makanjuola late in the game.
TIJANI MUHAMMED 6/10
Made little impact in the game before his substitution in the second half.
SUBSTITUTES
JEROME ADAMS 4/10
Took the place of the ineffective Jamilu Muhammed early in the second half and alsobdidn’t offer much to the Flying Eagles performance.
SUCCESS MAKANJUOLA 5/10
Showed he could be relied on despite spending not less than 10 minutes on the pitch.
NNAMDI OFOBOR 4/10
Tipped to start the game, but in the end was only handed a cameo appearance.
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COMMENTS
Very hilarious rating as usual. What got me the most is this phrase “and his ball distribution was very good”. Like Roger Federer said to an umpire….ARE YOU KIDDING ME? lol.
Note:
1. You can only play the opposition before you. The Flying Eagles were up against minnows in Qatar. The quality of their opponents affected the overall quality of the game but Aigbogun’s men proved their overwhelming superiority with 4 unreplied goals and that itself set them apart.
2. Aigbogun’s game plan worked. From the Afcon U-21 tournament, they had a pattern of trying to score from crossing manoeuvres. The first 2 goals came from crosses and the 4th goal came from knock-down from a corner kick. Should they perfect this strategy and add different dimensions to it, Utin and Co will cause teams problems.
3. This is not an exciting team to watch; at least not yet. However, If they come against a more technical and well drilled team, I don’t think they will be overawed. They will stand their own because, from evidence of today’s match, they have the potential to step up a gear or two. But it is doubtful their physicality alone will be enough to see them through.
Overall:
Although they scored 4 goals today, Aigbogun’s boys still need to exhibit more bite.
They have to show that they can break teams down and unlock defenses in a variety of creative ways.
They also lack flair, panache, poise and elegance.
The likes of Dele-Bashiru, Utin Udoh and that number 11 tried to inject some flair but it was wholly inadequate – Nigerian fans are used to being entertained to high standards.
They can go as far as the quarter finals but if they come against a highly technical Italy, Columbia or France, it could be curtains.
These boys played rubbish. No ball sense,no skill, terrible. If they play a strong opposition with what l saw, they will not go far.
Mr man have u ever played soccer before?,nonsence
The flying eagle as played an awesome game and will improve with each passing game. Thanks
They better watch the USA. America never give up. That’s all l will say at this time.
I will surely be waiting here for you all when Nigeria plays a bigger team and wins. Before the boys played Qatar, most people here were like “Let see how Nigeria fares against Qatar that has the best football academy in the world”. Now the Flying Eagles proved you all wrong by mauling them 4-0 and the story has changed to “Qatar is a small team and that why they won”. What pains me most is most people analysing rubbish here didn’t watch the match, they only followed CSN coverage. Someone even said they lack flair! I bet that person didn’t see Tom Dele-Bashiru, Utin, Kingsley Micheal, Henry Offia and Effiom in that match. Abeg you people should just keep your negativity one side and analyze the truth not all this joke analysis am seeing here
The truth is that the boys played well.
To my best of knowledge the FE team I watched yesterday played OK and can only get better as the tournament progress. For the guys commenting that the FE played trash believe me, we didn’t watch the same game.
They will improve as the tournament progress, they did their best yesterday.
The first game is w first step to victory . I didn’t watch the match but hope to see the repeated version . Though I saw the commentary and from what I saw , I think they played well . They looked like they showed their hunger to score more goals . I hope they grow with confidence and advance with more victories in this tournament …
Ahead of our under 20 match tomorrow, I thought I’d scout their team a little.
First impressions, it’s a step up in quality, their team that played against and lost to the Ukraine are no Qatar. This will be a proper test of the quality we have
6 players are from the USA premier League (MLS), 5 from the youth academies of German Bundesliga teams and 3 from the youth teams of “premium clubs” – Barcelona, Ajax and the first team squad of PSG
Here is their season stats so far:
GK Bradley Scott (FC Koln u20) 13 games, 19 goals against 3 clean sheets
Sergio Dest (Ajax under 21) 17/1/0
Chris Richards (Bayen u19) 20/1/1
Abubakar Keita (Richmond Kickers US second division) 3/0/0
Chris Gloster (Hannover II) 16/0/3
Paxton Ponkyal (FC Dallas MLS) 9/2/0
Brandon Servania (DC United MLS) 1/0/0
K De La Fuente (Barcelona under 19) 9/1/2
Timothy Weah (Paris St Germain) 2/1/0
Alexis Mendez (Freiburg u19) 9/2/1
Sebastian Soto (Hannover 96 u19) 24/717/6
Matthew Real (Philadelphia MLS) 0/0/0
Justin Rennicks (NE Revolution MLS) 1/0/0
And the Nigerian in the squad
Ayo Akinola (Toronto FC MLS) 7/1/0
Those agbaya go struggle again
mr chales can you be civil stop insulting these people .They are representing us as a nation