Completesports.com’s ADEBOYE AMOSU appraises the performance of Super Eagles’ players in Friday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture against Seychelles at the Stephen Keshi Stadium Asaba.
FRANCIS UZOHO 5/10
He was at fault for the goal Super Eagles conceded goal and didn’t really look assured in goal despite the inconsequential nature of the game.
SHEHU ABDULLAHI 6/10
The returnee right-back made a lot of runs upfront but was let down by his poor delivery.
WILLIAM TROOST-EKONG 6/10
The Udinese of Italy centre-back was troubled a couple of times by the opponents, but he stood up to the challenge and put up an above average showing for the Super Eagles.
KENNETH OMERUO 7/10
Picked ahead of Leon Balogun for the match and he put up a fine performance at the heart of the Super Eagles defence.
JAMILU COLLINS 7/10
Gradually making the left-back position his own. Provided an inch perfect cross for Henry Onyekuru to score Nigeria’s second goal and also had a hand in the third goal.
WILFRED NDIDI 8/10
Put up a man of the match performance. He won a penalty which was converted by Odion Ighalo and was full of life in the entire duration of the game.
OGHENAKARO ETEBO 6/10
Unlucky not to get a goal in the game with the Seychelles goalkeeper saving his goal-bound free-kick in the first half.
ALEX IWOBI 5/10
The Arsenal winger who was deployed in a midfield role was poor all through. Struggled to get into groove and was duly substituted with Semi Ajayi in the second half.
AHMED MUSA 5/10
Not one of the best games for Super Eagles vice captain as he struggled to affect the game positively.
HENRY ONYEKURU 7/10
Scored a wonderful game for the Super Eagles and showed glimpses of his ability in his first 90 minutes.
ODION IGHALO 6/10
Took his penalty well but never really hit the heights set in previous games of the 2019 AFCON qualifiers. Emerged as the Super Eagles top scorer in the campaign with seven goals.
SUBSTITUTES
PAUL ONUACHU 4/10
Took the place of Oghenekaro Etebo but struggled to make much impact.
SEMI AJAYI 3/10
Gave the ball away a couple of times after taking the place of Alex Iwobi. Didn’t do better than the man he replaced.
MOSES SIMON 6/10
Made an instant impact by scoring Nigeria’s third goal after replacing Odion Ighalo six minutes from time.
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COMMENTS
Uzoho is really not it at all. What kind of elementary mistake was that. Mr Rohr should really start scouting for a better option bcos that lad is highly inconsistent.
rohr is not a coach…..iwobi is too average abeg….
Hehehehehe….this are the same people that will later turn on the coach if he doesn’t field Alex in a match o. Birds of same feather…them David themselves
Poor display from some of our players
The match was boring . Goalkeeper was terrible . I wonder why Henry should be playing at the right wings where his impact wasn’t felt . Moses Simon was a delight to watch the moment he got into the match within the few mins . Rohr I don’t understand how motives as well as his substitution in the game . Don’t even know whether he actually knows what he’s doing. Why use an Uzohor who is not experienced and doesn’t have a whole grip of his position as a foal keeper. Lot needs to be done .
Blame the pitch for Uzoho and Iwobi minimal contributions today.
Uzoho is good. He is just prone to making comic mistakes. Like Hugo LLoris of france, or Heurelho Gomez of Brazil. What he needs now is regular football to get back up to speed. He should also have good competition in the team. Alampasu should be there breathing down his neck. And boy, do we miss Carl Ikeme! For now, it seems Rohr would rather have a match rusty Uzoho in goal, than Ezenwa or Akpeyi. Goes to show how little confidence he has in these two.
Looks like our search for Ighalo’s replacement continues! If anything happens to Ighalo before the Afcon, we are in trouble. By far the most reliable striker we have at the moment, and for me, the only striker of repute. Onuachu had a terrible debut today. The pitch did not help. But surely, Onuachu himself knows that if he is selected, he MUST come out all guns blazing against Egypt. Else, back to the international wilderness he goes. Simy Nwankwo did much better than him, and is not in the team today. A word is enough for the wise.
In spite of the narrow, awful pitch, I thought the team did ok. Semi’s performance encouraged me a lot. The guy was very comfortable playing alongside Ndidi. Playing these two behind Iwobi would allow Iwobi to focus on his AM duties more, and unleash the beast in him. Etebo can always come in as a sub if needed. Good thing about Etebo is he can fit in pretty much anywhere in the midfield.
Moses Simon reminded us today of what we’ve been missing! Good old fashioned Nigerian wing play. With Simon, Chukwueze, Kalu, Onyekuru and hopefully Moses, we’ve got some powerful wingers who can handle business. It’s up to Rohr to use them in the optimal way.
I sincerely wish the Egypt game is moved to Uyo, or any other better pitch! That will give our boys the platform to really show themselves. Same goes with the return leg against Libya. Play that match in Asaba, and I fear we might not make it to Tokyo. To maximize our chances, we need to play that game on a better pitch.
Apt. What else is there to say. This is how to know those who really understand football… Not all these ones that come here bragging about being neighbours with pep guardiola
We need the return of Victor Moses and John Obi Mikel in the super eagles. Musa and Iwobi’s performance was not convincing. Nff should return super eagles to the nests of champions in Akwa Ibom state. Super eagles players are more comfortable in the nests of champion.
Uzoho: 4/10 ; jittery in this game ,which could be because of match rustiness.not really comfortable with him being number one.The goalkeeping department still needs work.
Ekong: 6/10: although not much to do,but was good as he could be.had some duels with the lanky Seychellois striker ,but always had that commandeering presence. And he is not afraid to try out in the attack as well in set pieces.
Omeruo: 7/10: one of the most improved Super Eagle,he has good communication with Ekong,and always willing to get into challenges and be the sweeper.
Shehu: 7/10: great performance.always making those runs.but his end product sometimes let him down.should work on his delivery and final balls.he should do well for himself to be careful about making irrational challenges when losing the ball.
Collins: 8/10: for me,the best of the back four on the day.positioning was ok. Defended well and always an outlet for attacks ,as seen in his assists.
Ndidi: 8/10: was all over. A dogged fighter.is ability is never in doubt but one of his best games for the super eagles.
Etebo: 6/10: a good game but could be better.improving in set pieces.hardworking.but too inconsistent.fades in and out of games.should work harder.
Iwobi: 2/ 10: really really bad game for Iwobi.he wasn’t here mentally.nothing worked for him.he always wanted the ball but did nothing with it.to think the game was built around him,he failed to carry the team in distributing those decisive balls needed to score.made the attack redundant and was rightly substituted.
Musa: 5/10: the captain tried but nothing worked for him. He changed positions,still couldn’t really get going.methinks,a small pitch doesn’t suit his style.
Onyekuru: 8/10: best in the attack on the day. Lots of running,good foot work.took his goal excellently.
Ighalo: 5/10: not really his day,not for not trying but got no delivery,mostly due to the ineffectiveness of Iwobi.but took his goal calmly,and struck the woodwork.
Substitutes
Ajayi: 6/10: didn’t really do much but did enough to show he could hold his own alongside Ndidi in that midfield.good player.
Onuachu: 3/10: not a good debut. But can’t blame him.there was no service.and he is box striker .
Simon: 6/10 : took his 6mins or so on the pitch to show his class.he took his goal well.Albiet some more game time,but Moses still got it..
Regards again to everyone on this hallowed ground.All the comments,haven been thoroughly analysed i choose to respond thus:
That we must all learn to be patient as that is the great virtue of a great leader.
That we must learn to watch this round leather game disperssionatly putting all our sentiments aside.
That this great Coach Rorh has shown in several ways than one to be more informed and intelligent footballically (permit my choice) than all of us.
That this Rorh inspite of the damned criticism of Igalo stock to his gun and kept him, today he’s delivering.
That this Rorh,has a depth understanding of African football,that he has shown with the way he has handled them so far.
That after seeing the Friday match my conclusion is that all the players did extremely well in fact I think we have a team now which we can build on,cudos to Rorh.
That whatever flaws was seen of this players on the day was down to the terrible playing surface and an embarrassingly small pitch which will kill any great team in the world(ask Bacellona).Small playing surface kills a great team and hinders them from expressing themselves and at the end makes them look ordinary.Above all it was difficult for the guys to play cos of the grass(that grass is not for football but for inter-house sport).In spite of that they were great.
That we should not ovally condemn Uzoho,yes he made a blunder but he’s not the only Keeper to have made such common error.World class keepers have made more silly mistakes and they have moved on even better.Degea readily comes to mind,apart from being ma worst gk at the world cup he retained his position in MU,and did not stop making blunders, the xaka’s goal against Arsena recently readily comes to mind.Can mention many more names so name calling is uncalled for.
Finally,my conclusion is the present Eagles,is the most modern and informed team we have had in recent time,though a work in progress but we are almost there.
asoko Emmanuel u are on point..
evrytin put in place dat SE team wud av bath d Seychelles with goals yesterday but look at d pitch we played in,, rohr is nt bad and our team is impressive ,,
Mr Rohr shld be taught aw to do early substitution ASAP..