Former Nigerian goalkeeper, Andrew Aikhoumogbe has advised the Super Eagles interim coach, Austine Eguavoen to lead with the duo of Odion Ighalo and Victor Osimhen in the team’s attack ahead of the second leg of the 2022 World Cup qualifying playoffs against Ghana.
Recall that the first leg against the Black Stars in Kumasi ended in a goalless draw on Friday and the reverse fixture will be played at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Tuesday, March 29.
Aikhoumogbe in an interview with Completesports.com from his Cairo base in Egypt, stated that the experience of Ighalo and Osimhen’s raw talent will see off the stubborn Ghana side.
“I was really impressed with the attitude of the players against the Black Stars of Ghana in Kumasi in the first leg. Despite the intimidating crowd, the players still composed themselves and could have scored with the few chances that came their way.
“With the second leg set for Abuja, I will advise the Eguavoen to partner Osimhen with Ighalo because Ighalo’s experience will definitely come handy. It will even take some of the burden away from Osimhen and attention will be on Ighalo.
“I am confident the Super Eagles will get the job done in Nigeria and qualify for Qatar.”
23 Comments
our four two 1 second ago
Its a pity but Abuja fans dont have the predilection to offwr the SE the kind of support Ghana got in Kumasi.Its beat my imagination why this game was taken to Abuja that does not have a fanatic football fans base culture like Calabar, Lagos , Kaduna , Benin and PortHarcourt. You don’t play politics with everything. Granted Abuja is the administrative head quarters of Nigeria but in terms of football it is no where near Lagos , Calabar or any of the aforementioned cities in Nigeria. Accra is the headquarters of Ghana but the football slaughter ground is Kumasi. I strongly believe if that game was played in Accra SE will come away with a win. Every soccer crazy nation has a slaughter ground whr they stage crucial games.Lets take a look at Brazil one of the most successful nations in football. Their Capital city is Brazilia. But their soccer headquarters is Maracanna stadium in Rio de janerio. There u see crazy fans . young girls and boys going naked with songs and dance steps that make their opponent concede defeat even without kicking a ball. In Nigeria those types of fanatic fans are found in abundant in Calabar, Lagos, Benin, portHarcourt, Enugu, and Kaduna.Abuja is too serene , cautious and timid to be SE slaughter ground. So the NNF should look at the aforementioned cities , select onw, developed their stadium and make SE permanent slaughter ground.
It is a good game plan to take the attention away to free Osimhen to rove around their 18yard box, then get the needed goals. Odion is an astute and a prolific scorer any time. His presence alone will make the Black Stars including their fans to shiver.
This’s Awoniyi’s game all day, that boy will run that Ghana defense down, he will put them under so many pressure they will be committing silly fouls. I will be the first guy to say this, I would rather have Awoniyi against African defenders than Osimihen. Will should ask Moses Simon and iheanacho they will tell us who they preferred. Ighalo would be a short one in this physical duel. 4-4-2 against Ghana might not be a bad idea. With Aribo , Onyeka, Etebo, Dennis , in the middle, while Sadiq and Osimihen form twin strikers. This lineup will win the match. I’ve reviewed the match ten times this’s our best starting eleven against Ghana.
How to manage kudus .he is like okocha and also fast with the ball.
Etebo and Onyeka will deal with him. So unfortunate Ndidi won’t be playing. We miss Awaziem too. These are tough tacklers absnd very fast too. But with the energy and composure of Etebo and Onyeka, Kudus will be kept in check, trust me
@ Sunnyb, nice one..
We all saw what Awoniyi did at AFCON. He played for the team, hustled for all balls, forced defenders to commit errors, he won more than 80% of his duels against defenders, he created opportunities for the team.
His only offense is that he is a string believer who will always wait for his time and will never bribe his way into anything. The corrupt and tribal animals in the national team decided to drop him and even invited a striker that he benched at AFCON and a retiree league player..
No sane coach will drop Awoniyi (top 7 scorer in German league), SE leading striker in top 5 leagues for Sadiq or Ighalo.
This is not true.Ighalo/osimhen combo remains the best
The only thing he did not do was score for the team. All of the aforementioned things you said he did couldn’t result in goals for us.
Are you kidding me? AWONIYI scored 1 goal, gave 1 direct assist and 1 indirect assist (Moses Simon goal against GUINEA BISSAU) and ran the TUNISIAN defence ragged leading to OLAYINKA and SADIQ having a field day but for profligacy on the part of SADIQ!
EMILE HESKEY never scored a goal in 2002 WC but ran defences ragged leading to OWEN and co scoring
OLIVER GIROUD never had a single shot on target in 2018 WC but played all matches ensuring that MBAPPE thrived
CIRRO IMMOBILE didn’t pull down trees EURO 2020 but was Italy’s focal point
I completely concur with @LARRY, no sane coach will drop the country’s leading scorer in all competitions in a top 5 EUROPEAN LEAGUE for a second division or Sunday Sunday league player!
Sadly enough SE and by extension, NIGERIA is cursed with maladministration, nepotism, mediocrity, corruption etc in all facets of our lives.
How do you explain EGUAVOEN persisting with IHEANACHO as an ATTACKING MIDFIELDER at the detriment of ARIBO when even BALOGUN who plays with both of them at the national team openly said AM or No 10 is ARIBO’s best position for SE
I said it immediately I saw the list that SE would struggle as GHANW would dominate the midfield Battle. I was proved right when by 20+ minutes GHANA was leading 70+ against SE 20+ in terms of possession!
In Abuja we can either play a cautious and defensive 3-4-3 of
UZOHO
AJAYI EKONG BALOGUN
AINA ONYEKA ETEBO ZAIDU
SIMON ARIBO OSIMHEN
or 3-5-2 of:
UZOHO
AJAYI EKONG BALOGUN
AINA ONYEKA ETEBO ARIBO ZAIDU
DENNIS (tireless, strong runner than a slower IGHALO and a lightweight SADIQ) OSIMHEN
Or a more adventurous and attacking 4-3-3 formation of:
UZOHO
AINA BALOGUN EKONG ZAIDU
ONYEKA ETEBO ARIBO
DENNIS OSIMHEN SIMON
Good luck SE
Well said Aikhoumogbe. Pls forum, any information about the TV channels that will air the match on Tuesday?
Most likely AIT.
When I saw that starting 11 I was like this is a Nigerian team, very diverse and with a proper goalkeeper. Not a mixed biracial goalkeeper to pretty up Nigeria image just because Nigerians fetishizes mixed people. Black stars came out to fight, they were so aggressive. At the 21 minute Osimhen could of just headed the ball, that’s one of his strengths, he had a bad first touch which gave away the ball. I liked that Uzoho was commanding the defense, you can see him getting angry voicing his concerns around the 26 minute when the goal looked like it went in. You don’t see that with Okoye. Super eagles were not ready for the aggressiveness of the game with so much contact, I saw a lot of people falling down and flailing including Osimhen which he has been doing in Napoli, looking for calls before even trying to finish a play. Awoniyi would of been the perfect person since he is physical and cant be easily pushed over, same for Ighalo. Super eagles couldn’t even complete a pass. Iheanacho is not the main guy at leicester, he is a support to Vardy, he is not a starter and comes off the bench, he didn’t do anything in the game. Chukwueze have been coming off the bench for villarreal because all he do is dribble, Emery is a tactful guy. If I see Okoye, Kelechi and Chukwueze on that lineup, I know this team is going nowhere.
Ighalo what ?
Ighalo does not have the pace and strength needed for matches of this magnitude. He should be no where around the first 11.
Dennis or Sadiq has better speed, strength and scoring capability.
Let Ighalo wait for his time, we can try him in friendly matches not against Ghana. We saw him against CV, zero contribution !!
Ighalo is ideal.stop the hate man
The match between Nigeria and Ghana will be on dstv supersport channel 203, 203 and 204 and other car wc qualifiers accross Africa. Nigeria vs Ghana will start 5:55 pm, Senegal vs Egypt 8.30pm etc. All on supersport on Tuesday
We are coming to ANNEXED ABUJA!
Self made slave now mixing past tense with present tense murdering the white man’s language lolz
Come o
see this selfmad yash pesin? This na normal human?
E be like say de bobo don enter town o
Abi whey yu always on CSNigeria?
Yu nor get aneting for ghana peoples?
Wetin nah, dem no born cowboy with crayfish na
Biko give space and stop fulling ground here with youre lack of intelligence, pls biko go back to ghana nah
With all the empty bragging before the first leg, we are still thanking God that we don’t concede, and here you go again talking rubbish. Some people will never learn, if you don’t have anything to offer, or as an ex player, you still don’t understand how football works, then go home.
Come o
see this selfmad yash pesin? This na normal human?
E be like say de bobo don enter town o
Abi whey yu always on CSNigeria?
Yu nor get aneting for ghana peoples?
Wetin nah, dem no born cowboy with crayfish na
Biko give space and stop fulling ground here with youre lack of intelligence, pls biko go back to ghana nah
Inform SE strikers don’t score against the mighty Black Stars.
The likes of Rashid Yekini, Obafemi Martins and Odewingi become ordinary players when they came up against Ghana. Osimhen & Ighalo won’t do anything to the Black Stars.
Ghana must go.
Good idea, I even said it on that match day