The Super Eagles lost 1-0 to the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, in Friday’s international friendly in Austria.
It was the first time the Cameroonians will defeat the Eagles since the final of the AFCON 2000.
They will meet again on Tuesday for the second leg of the international at the same venue.
Also Read: Nigeria 0-1 Cameroon: Indomitable Lions Halt Super Eagles Winning Streak
Following the defeat, Completesports.com did the ratings of each Super Eagles player that featured against the five-timeAFCON winners.
Super Eagles player ratings against Cameroon:
Maduka Okoye
Couldn’t do anything about the Cameroonian goal but aside that wasn’t called to action in most part of the game (6)
Shehu Abdullahi
Was contented with his defensive duties as he didn’t do much going forward (5)
William Troost-Ekong
His poor clearance led to Cameroon’s goal but did well enough to marshall the defence. Also went close to scoring with a superb shot from a freekick which was saved. Was replaced by Valentine Ozornwafor late in the game (6)
Chidozie Awaziem
Partnered Troost-Ekong in the heart of the defence and was impressive (6)
Jamilu Collins
Just like Abdullahi, he didn’t offer much in the attacking third as he focused more on the defensive aspect (5)
Wilfred Ndidi
Tried to make something happen in the Eagles midfield as he battled hard to help his side win back possession and also tried his luck with long range strikes (7)
Oghenekaro Etebo
Also battled hard in the midfield alongside Ndidi and saw his long range effort stopped by the Cameroonian keeper (6)
Alex Iwobi
Failed to influence the game from the midfield as he was guilty of sloppy play sometimes. Later switched to the right wing but still couldn’t do much before going off (5)
Kelechi Iheanacho
Couldn’t replicate his Leicester City form as he struggled to get into scoring positions before eventually going off (5)
Moses Simon
Had a golden chance to equalise but blasted his effort over the bar from inside the box. Also sent in a dangerous cross which Onuachu failed to convert (6)
Paul Onuachu
Had a chance to get on the score sheet from a cross by Simon but hit his effort over the bar. Struggled to get into very good scoring positions and had to drop deep to get involved in the build ups (5)
Substitutes
Terem Moffi
Came on in the second half for his debut but didn’t really so much (5)
Abraham Marcus
Another debutant who was introduced in the second half and just like Moffi didn’t have enough time to show his stuff (5)
Ahmed Musa
Went close to scoring only to see his goal bound shot blocked. Aside that he didn’t really contributed much in the game (5)
Peter Olayinka
Was among the players who came on but hardly got any scoring opportunity to get the Eagles back in the game (5)
Anayo Iwuala
Was lively when he came on and tried to direct play from the left wing. Sent in a cross/shot in the closing stages of the game which failed to trouble the opposition keeper (6)
Valentine Ozornwafor
Was introduced for Troost-Ekong very late in the game (N/A)
By James Agberebi
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COMMENTS
Too bad for Nigeria. Bunch of these players are all playing in Second Divisions Clubs in Europe. Their Agents here will be promoting their guys even when they are know such players are not ripe or equal to their promotions. Forget about México match. Some of the Nigerian players today were running as if they were pregnant. What a shame. Better go beg Ighalo and Victor Moses before the Tuesday’s match or Nigeria will be humiliated before the World. In this match today, l don’t want to blame Rohr as yet but the selfish agents in our mix who are always trying to sell their players using this very media. I feel sorry for Rohr. Too many novice players who should not be playing for our own Bende Insurance of Benin yet, forced on the Coach. Cameroon seeing us play today with out Ighalo and Victor Moses is like eating Ogbonor soup without salt.
Next game should began with players that played the last 30mins. OK. .. and some players that played the 1st 20 mins shud be stopped from the team invitations for now.
Brins or starts
I believe Nigeria coach Rohr should go and plead with Odion Ighalo to come back to the super-eagles. A combination of Ighalo and Osimhen and also Victor Moses with Ahmed Musa will lift these hapless Eagles up from slumber for the next world cup qualifiers to avoid disgrace to Nigeria. Also, Uzoho should be given some game time to instill a competitive spirit between him and Maduka for the benefit of the team.
Edoman your comments is not different from that of omo9ja, what has Ighalo and Moses have to do with this game that is supposed to be a friendly to try something new. And this is not our first eleven. I don’t understand you at all. How does the defeat concern Markus that played only 5mins? some of you fans need to visit the psychiatrist.
Some of you come up here sounding like agents of G.Rohr,he never does any wrong in spite of the fact that he has been handling this team for about 5yrs now yet one cannot see any improvement in the cohesion of their ball movement. The coach needs help because he is tactically deficient
@Edoman, greetungs sir. With due respect, could you please name one SECOND DIVISION player who started yesterday’s game aside Jamilu Collins who would have played the game anyway had we not discovered Zanusi as he still remains our most reliable left back bar Zanusi.
If Ighalo was still relevant, top clubs in Europe top 5 leagues would’ve struggled for his signature when he left Man Utd. Afterall a certain 36 years old Cavani was literally begged to ink a fresh deal with the club!
Let’s enjoy these friendly instalments before the WC qualifiers come calling please.
Enjoy the rest of your day sir
Sorry to burst your bubble…..but top 5 leagues clubs like Wedtham and inter Milan did express interest in ighalo when his man utd contract expired, but none was willin to offer him the $300,000 pay package he’s currently earning.
Go search through online media.
Who did Ejuke offend?
They say there are 7 wonders in the world. Ejuke’s non-invitation is surely the 8th wonder. It can’t be explained logically. How can arguably our most in-form winger be excluded from invitation to the national team?
I’m not even expecting him to start games if invited. The squad is such that nobody is sure of a starting jersey, except Osimhen and Ndidi. So, Ejuke himself has to accept that his jersey is not sure. But I contend vigorously that Ejuke on current form should be in the squad.
Ejuke would have been a big problem for Cameroon today if he had played. Kudos to Simon for his efforts on the left flank, but the Cameroon right back Fai had his number. In fact, Simon was in his back pocket for most of the game. If Fai had come across Ejuke, I’m certain he will have had a more challenging evening. I mean, look at Ejuke’s performance against Tunisia, a side that is better organized defensively than Cameroon. Ejuke has the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck and make things happen, on his own. We need players like that. Lookman is another player that can affect a game single handedly. I don’t want to be too harsh on some of the players, because I know they are probably exhausted from a long season.
We need to fortify this team in such a way that the bench is just as strong as the starting eleven. If Ejuke is on the bench for example, the guy playing ahead of him will know that he better perform. That is the kind of competition and motivation we need.
Football is a game of small margins. We lost today, not because we were poor, but because we failed to take the numerous chances that came our way. If Onuachu’s header in the 3rd minute had gone in, we might have had a completely different game. If Onuachu had converted Simon’s cross into the box, we might be singing a different tune. How about Simon’s miss in the box, in front of a yawning net? That’s 3 chances that should have ended up in the back of the net. Cameroon, for their part, struggled to create clear chances, but they scored from their only shot on target in the whole game! Call it good fortune, but that shot could have beaten any keeper in the world. It was so well hit, I’m not sure Anguissa meant to hit it that well. It zipped right into the corner of the goal. An unstoppable shot it was.
My point is, we had so many chances, but failed to convert any. We lost a game we should have won. This is the big problem of Nigerian football. In other big footballing nations, this doesn’t happen. If they are better than you, they will finish you. Nigeria will toy with you like a cat toying with its food, and then contrive to lose from winning positions. That is the Nigerian way. If we want to win a competition as mentally draining and challenging as the world cup, we must have a paradigm shift. We need to be more ruthless, and be stronger mentally.
We certainly need our best players in the squad, wherever they may be found. Somebody like Ejuke should be in the squad. We should be encouraging and monitoring our best players. It is guys like this that can take us to the football utopia we crave.
So once again, I ask the question – WHO DID EJUKE OFFEND?
@pompei, you too dey make sense, abeg. Comprehensive, unbiased, balanced, punchy, passionate plus fluidly delivered. Sense no go kee u.
But that only shot on target that beat Okoye, don’t you think that Cameroun goalie we saw yesterday would have parried it away? Don’t you think it was similar to that sting of a shot from Ekong he saved?
That guy, to me, made a major (not all) difference in that match. But your submissions are always enjoyable to read nonetheless.
Thanks so much Kel. The Cameroon goalie was the MOM in my opinion. As you said, it was him that stood between Nigeria and goals. Perhaps Okoye could have saved that shot if he had moved a bit faster, but in all fairness, it would be harsh to blame him for that goal, in my opinion.
Hahahaha….@Pompei. If we invite Ejuke, how we go take sell Anayo Iwuala market….LMAO.
His packagers have even gone on to give him sobriquests such as “superstar”….even handing him Nigeria’s no 10 jersey on one occasion. A player who’s only had 4 goals and 3 assists in all competitions in 2 seasons suddenly being tagged “superstar”.
No vex my brother, market has to be sold. Ejuke is probably one of the quality foreign based players we have to deny a place in the SE in order to “encourage” local players…LMAO.
LMAO, Dr Drey, na so we see am ooo. We go just siddon dey look yonder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDAf93_Cqxo
See the player that is being excluded from national team invitation! Are you kidding me? Unless something is going on that we are not aware of. Perhaps he is injured, or he has communicated to Rohr that he is not interested in international football. If Ejuke is available, then I personally want to know what the issue is.
It is a crime to exclude Ejuke who is the most and the best PLAYER that Nigeria has. Nigeria have to engage in their best now or the near future. Whoever excludes Ejuke should be prosecuted in the court of public opinion.
Edoman, I agree with you 100%!
Rohr is not consistent in what he is doing… We need a real playmaker, Kelechi Nwakali should have been called up, if we can call Markus Abraham, why not kelechi Nwakali? Again… Why is Lookman and Ejaria’s switch taking “till thy kingdom come?”, the team lacks a real leader on the pitch… We need Victor Moses back, and whenever Balogun is not at the heart of defence… Ekong frantic and hasty misplacements get exposed…
U have come again….
The OLAYINKA u advertised was here and there came in and did nothing special against Cameron in more than 10min.
U have now switch to Nwakali, the world is watching u….
Guy make sense and be real for once… People like you only know football by watching and have never participated yourself in playing for practical experience… It’s Olayinka you want to face, was he the one who told our forwards that started ahead of him and enjoyed a large portion of the game to be blasting wide? You will never be
frank to criticize your moon-god Rohr who always
invite players and give them 3minutes… Like
Marcus Abraham… he even improved giving
Olayinka 10minutes yesterday… Rohr’s pattern
is always too predictable,we are yet to defeat a
serious opponent since Afcon 2019.
…It’s Olayinka you want to face, was he the one who told our forwards that started ahead of him and enjoyed a large portion of the game to be blasting wide?–says Jimmyball.
Weren’t u one of those people that clamored for the invitation of those forwards?
Now u want to shift responsibility to others right?
…Rohr’s pattern
is always too predictable,we are yet to defeat a
serious opponent since Afcon 2019.–says Jimmyball….
Now that the man is playing to u people’s tone u people are still blaming him?
Invite this one, invite that one… This one is good, that one is not good… Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla….
When it backfires u people find who to shift the blame on….
U people should keep being sword with two edges…
@Jimmyball I actually come in peace.,.
SHALOM
… Here goes the clown with a multicoloured garment playing the forum jester again… Congrats. Lol… I won’t engage you… Even Rohr was hailing Olayinka in the end on “scorenigeria. com” even most of us know his stint on the pitch is too short to make any real impression on the game…
Reading about Agents and others imposing players on the coach is sickening. I thought these things only happened with local coaches, because that was what Keshi was accused of despite him winning the Afcon and qualifying the team for the world cup, so someone can still impose players on ROHR as well? Rubbish.
And what is it with this playing two-legged friendly matches? 2 teams, two matches, the same venue and in 4 days?. Nigeria is big enough to get Grade A friendly matches that will allow them to play in a standard class stadium, not playing an African team in a stadium used by a regional league team in Austria and call that an International Friendly Match. Some people have to grow up in that country.
Nigerians. We are bad losers. This is just a friendly. We want to win all the time. The cameroonians were not better. We did not do too much but the cameroonians neither did much too. So ejuke will kill everybody on the pitch and score all the goals. Big lie. How come he struggled for a long time in Russia.
We are just bad losers. If we had won or draw, all of you will begin to sing the parises of the new boys. The goal scored by Cameroon was because ekong made a mistake. Can we take the positives and stop this cries. It’s just a friendly. About sux first team players did not play… Team chemistry was affected. Let’s see the second match.
@edoman, I always love your contribution but I am surprised you are asking for Moses and ighalo…as if we did not lose matches when those ones were there. Are they Messi and Ronaldo. We don’t need them again. Let them rest. Let’s try more new boys in the next march…if we lose no problem. We have lost friendly marches before major tournament and have performed well in the tournament. Haba relax
I am not related to Ejuke in any way. I’m Yoruba, and he is Igbo.
I don’t know the dude personally. I’m not even sure that I like him, because again, I don’t know him. But what I know is what I’ve seen of his footballing ability. Anybody that denies that Ejuke is a player is a bloody liar and a hypocrite!
Some people call themselves Christian Ministries, yet they can’t tell the truth, even if it is staring them in the face. This is one of the many reasons Nigeria remains backward. People like this will refuse to give credit to whom it is due, and insist on putting square pegs in round holes!
You who claims to be christian, what is your problem with this young man Ejuke? What do you mean by Ejuke will not come in and kill everybody? Is the boy’s talent not good enough, in your honest opinion? In England, boys that are not as good as Ejuke get hyped and encouraged, until they develop the confidence and actually get better.
Why is our own different? Sycophants and hypocrites tearing down players for whatever reason. I said Ejuke is good enough to be invited to the squad. I even said he is not guaranteed a starting jersey, did I not say that? So how does asking for the invitation of a deserving player make me a bad loser? I never like to lose, and if we lose a game we should have won, I will complain about it. If that makes me a bad loser in your eye, then I accept that our views on this subject are parallel lines that will never meet. However, any honest person will agree that it is strange that a player of Ejuke’s quality is in the international wilderness.
Let us give those who are deserving a chance. If they succeed, we all succeed!
If we give him a chance and he is not good enough, then we can move on to other options.
You are right bro. Ejuke could have been a supersub yesrterday. At least, he would be ahead of Iwuala. But i think there must have been a problem. I don’t think he was left out for no reason.
Also, we could have won that match if the players had taken those chances. They should have themselves to blame. Now, lets see what will happen on Tuesday in the absence of Ekong.
You guys are not serious, so you guys truly believed u going to defeat serious teams with Iwobi, iheanacho and Onuachu wrong combo guys, these guys lacks serious offensive bites, just my opinion lol
Ejuke has the potential to be a huge player for us. At the moment, he has some weaknesses he needs to work on:
1) He is selfish. He goes for glory, when a simple pass would have worked better. As a forward, his hunger for glory is understandable. But he needs to tone that down for the benefit of the team. He needs to work on his decision making.
2) His goal and assist production should be much more, given his incredible talent. Ejuke should be scoring 20 goals a season easy. But he doesn’t score enough, or provide assists enough. He needs to work on that.
3) His defensive contribution is poor. He doesn’t track back enough to help the defense. This is perhaps the major reason Rohr has ignored him, because Rohr insists on wingers tracking back to help the defense.
So there we have it. The boy is good, but he has his weaknesses. What should be done now is mentoring. Someone should contact him and give him fatherly advise on how to improve his game and become a better player. If he improves on the 3 points I mentioned above, the big clubs in the world will fight themselves to a finish for his signature.
If you are going into battle, it is fine to go with a sword and an axe. But is it not foolish to leave a gun behind? If we have good players and for any reason refuse to give them a chance, na we go still suffer the consequences at the end. If the player comes in and succeeds, na we go enjoy am. Let us do the needful.
Chidera Ejuke is needed in the super eagles. He is very talented and played well in the friendly against Tunisia. Same with Henry Onyekuru. They are both needed in the super eagles. Thanks
Just putting things into perspective, we played with probably half of our regulars out. The following players were missing: Leon Balogun, Semi Ajayi, Kenneth Omeruo, Kevin Akpoguma, Ola Aina, Tyrone Ebuehi, Zaidu Sanusi, Joe Aribo, Henry Onyekuru, Samuel Chukwueze, Samuel Kalu, Victor Osimhen. That’s a full first team of players (less Goal keeper). Any team in the world would struggle with that amount of players missing.
If we add to the list players who could also have injected quality to the side: Cyriel Dessers, Simy Nwaknkwo, Frank Onyeka, Obinna Nwobodo, Alhassan Yusuf, Tosin Kehinde, Kelechi Nwakali, Sadiq Umar, Junior Ajayi, Chidera Ejuke, goal keepers Sebastian Osigwe and Adebayo Adeleke, we can start to see the huge potential we have.
The new boys Terem Moffi, Peter Olayinka and Marcus Abraham have a golden opportunity to etch their name in the squad before the regulars return.
One thing is for sure, Cameroon took the advantage given to them. I expect a better showing by the next match
Nice one Pompei.That Ejuke Chiderah is a very talented player that his name has always been missing in Nigeria’s lineups. Infact, with his talant, he may have been in d class of of Neymar if our coaches are lovers of good and quality football that is based on creativity. Such players are best used in what is called ‘ free role ” in any lineups because of their movements and what they can easy do with the ball at all times…see Brazilian lineups and that of so many other teams and club sides that are serious on improving there teams at all times. In our case Mismanagement and mercenaries that surround the coaching crew as player agents and in fact, the old fashioned nd conservative methods and systems of our coaches themselves have always been our problems. As a matter of fact, I don’t even espect him(Ejuke) to be competing much with the other guys on d flanks bcos that alone might be limiting his potentials, bt l see him more in d middle nd infact everywhere on d pitch as a playmaker in a free role. We ought to have closed d chapter of the likes of Ebere Eze who are not so serious about playing for us if our coaches know very well how to use the very best players at thier disposal to get d right combination nd achieve
better results. Imagine a combination of Ejaria(if cleared by Fifa) and Ejuke as our main creative channels with the likes of Ademola Lookman(also to be cleared soon) and Chukwueze or Marcus Abraham, Onyekuru and others who would be supporting from d wings. No doubt, the above mentioned players are the most skilled and direct in thier movement on d pitch. Yes, l still regret till date, d fact that Victor Moses voluntarily decided to put a stop to his International career with us for now if not, he would have been our leader going forward…such a tenacious and skilled player to behold. Abeg, d Nff should help us seriously on dat if possible. I will also like to see Jordan Torunarigha of Hertha Berlin in Germany in our defence and another good player in our DM that would be a serious challenger or deputy to our ever reliable Wifred Ndidi in case of injury or loss of form. Thanks a lot.
Gills, well said bro.
Guys,the bitter truth is this.
Osimehin,chukwueze,kalu have NO replacement,no player comes near to these guys.our midfielders v no football sense, except for Aribo and ndidi.The rest are clueless on the ball.iwobi have no biz in super eagle. Collins in not the player we used to know,not a super eagel material. Iwaulas hype is too much,that guy no Sabi ball period,very selfish!! Onouchu football na for air… anything for ground na zero..the guy d clueless with his foot.
No body is talking about the goalkeeper the hype for okoye is too much I think uzoho is far better than him each time the defenders make mistakes the next thing is goal is time to change goalkeeper please
Hello mates… I want to share a link on YouTube of a good interview rendered by “Alhassan Ibrahim” a. K. a “Muazzam” former Nigeria U-20 player… he has now been converted from a support striker/attacking midfielder to a defensive midfielder. We all know the guy has NPFL league experience and has now added European (Austria/Portugal) league experience ontop of that… We need guys who are really talented ball players to help Ndidi… I do not think Rohr sees Shehu much in that light, for me flatly, Etebo is static and nothing more than a blunt misfit in forming a twin base with Ndidi, Etebo is whacky and untactly lack finesse to pair Ndidi at that base above our defence line… We should follow this lad Muazzam and see if he can do us a good job there… here is his interview. Please watch and share opinions:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SMFLjsN3zKQ
I wonder how Etebo got 6. He is supposed to get 3 or 4. He was the worst midfielder yesterday. Lacked creativity. Always passing the ball backward because of that. He cannot stop opponents physically or intercept balls. Always Looks unfit and this guy always gets call-ups. He is so overrated, it’s like Nigerians no sabi watch football again. Etebo is to the midfield what Akpeyi is to the goalpost. You cannot win any tournament win him actively involved. Mark my words. And lastly, We have the most unserious football manager in Rohr. He lacks drive and ambition. No burning desire to win anything and it shows in his teams.