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Completesports.com’s ADEBOYE AMOSU appraises the performance of Super Eagles’ players in their 1-0 win against the Syli Nationale of Guinea – an AFCON 2019 Group B match at the Alexandria Stadium on Wednesday, June 26 2019.
DANIEL AKPEYI 6/10
Made a number of routine saves early in the game, but had little or nothing to do afterwards.
CHIDOZIE AWAZIEM 6/10
Contended with making things simple. Defended well, but offered little going forward.
KENNETH OMERUO 8/10
Capped a solid display with the winning goal for the Super Eagles. It was his first international goal for Nigeria.
LEON BALOGUN 7/10
Surprisingly took the place of William Troost-Ekong in the starting line-up and proved to be a capable replacement for the Udinese defender.
OLA AINA 7/10
Not as influential like he was in the first game against Burundi. However, the Torino of Italy man was behind some of the team’s attacking moves in the first half.
WILFRED NDIDI 7/10
Unlucky not to get a goal in the game. He was no doubt Nigeria’s best midfielder in the game.
OGHENEKARO ETEBO 6/10
An strewn performance from the Stoke City man who received a yellow card for a rash challenge on a Guinean player in the 78th minute.
ALEX IWOBI 6/10
Drifted in and out of the game. He will need to be more consistent in his game following a not too impressive performance against the Syli Nationale.
AHMED MUSA 6/10
Largely unanimous for the major part of the game. Surprisingly spent the entire 90 minutes of the game on the pitch.
MOSES SIMON 7/10
Provided the assist for Nigeria’s only goal of the game. Caused problems for the Guinean defence for the better part of the game.
ODION IGHALO 6/10
Wasted two goal scoring chances and was not allowed too much room to operate by the opposing defence.
SUBSTITUTES
SAMUEL CHUKWUEZE 5/10
Came in for Alex Iwobi in the 78th minute of the game and couldn’t offer much.
PAUL ONUACHU
Not rated as he only played for two minutes after replacing Odion Ighalo in the 88th minute
SAMUEL KALU
Not rated. Kalu who recovered from a health issue was introduced in the 90th minute for Moses Simon. Didn’t even kick the ball before the final whistle sounded.
12 Comments
Rubbish rating and you wrote in the headlines brilliant
I am most thankful for Leon Balogun. I was scared when I saw his name in the starting line up, but he performed well enough for us not to miss Ekong. Akpeyi is also looking more confident in goal.
Hope the team gets better with every game.
I thought Musa was great today. Whenever he got the ball, you could see the panic it caused the Guineans. His direct, purposeful play was a big problem for them. I wish Chukwueze would borrow a leaf from Musa. Chukwueze seems desperate to impress. He doesn’t need to impress us. We already know he is a good player. He doesn’t have to go on dribbling expeditions all the time, losing the ball to the opponent along the way. He should focus more on keeping things simple. Pass the ball on time, use his pace, like Musa does, try those lefty shots at goal when the opportunities come, and get good crosses into the box for the striker to attack. Chukwueze is a heck of a player. He just needs to calm down and play!
Fine comments…
Nice one super eagles, after d nations cup we need to Look for a good attacking midfielder, iwobi is a God player but he is highly inconsistent,am not a coach but I believe that rohrs changes was wack.iwobi would have made way for mikel,while ighalo would have made way for chukwueze while muss drops to no 9 position and cgukwueze will go the flank. I wish them better luck going forward
A win is a win. thank you guys. Next.
What is your concern with coach substitute after the game has been won. Those mentioned are to your own way and the coach has done what he feel is okay.
Mr Adeboye Amosun you have tried with your ratings. Well done sir. Here’s mine the way I saw it.
Oga Rohr 6 – Credit must be given to him for the way the boys changed their play from the second half on. Good job of squad rotation. I was a bit confused with the choice of substitution of chukwueze for Iwobi but he must know something I don’t. All in all, Rohr will be judged by what transpires in the knockout round
Akpeyi 6 – Let’s just thank Ndidi, Etebo, Omeruo and Balogun that we didnt really need to find out if he is over his jitteriness. I counted at least 3 shots from far outside the box that the Guineans tried within the first 25 minutes so the word is out on him. I think at this point we are all waiting for his next blunder and he only has himself to blame for our expectations
Aina 6.5 – composed display from the boy. Not as influential going forward but he did his job
Balogun 7 – I’ll be honest and reveal I was nervous about his inclusion but his display was imperious. Snuffed out a potential break away chance early and was instrumental in keeping Guinean attackers quiet
Omeruo 7.5 – Man of the match. Controlled the box aerially and was put the Guinean forward in his back pocket for 90 minutes. Proving to be a real threat on set pieces and took his goal well
Awaziem 6 – We must recognize that he is playing out of position. Did an admirable job and even ventured forward on a few occasions. His crossing could be better but thats really just nitpicking
Ndidi 7.5 – He is beginning to be the Super Eagles most indispensable player. The awesome thing is that he’s not done getting better yet. Provided the shield wall in front of the back four and neutralized (bullied) Naby Keita for the 70 minutes he was on the field. His passing precision and distribution does need to improve
Etebo 5.5 – Was part of the partnership with Ndidi that helped neutralize Keita and put himself about but my goodness, he has to be better at passing the ball. He must add subtlety to his game and understand that he can’t just play gra gra football at this level
Iwobi 4.5 – It was not his day. He kept giving the ball away in the first half and those giveaways led directly to shot attempts by the Guineans. He never stopped trying and was slightly better in the 2nd half, producing a fine save from the Guinean keeper on a curler. I’m not sure if it was the heat but he’s had better days
Simon 5.5 – His best work came in support of Awaziem on the defensive end. Didn’t really produce anything offensively and kept wasting corners with poor deliveries. The one he did get right produced the lone goal
Musa 6.5 – Was the Super Eagles catalyst early on providing two accurate deliveries that were spurned by Ighalo and Iwobi. Would be on the score sheet if Ighalo wasn’t so selfish. Had a wonderful run in the second half that just lacked the precise final ball for Ighalo. Took one for the team with his hustle to stop a Guinean counter attack. Fine overall display
Ighalo 5.5 – The type of work Ighalo does goes underappreciated. Occupied the two Guinean centerbacks providing space for musa and simon on the wings and also getting both booked. That was the good. Wasn’t sharp early on or else he should have done better with the ball Musa gave him. Extremely selfish in shooting when Musa had a simple tap in. It was reminiscent of Siasia not passing to Yekini against Cote D’Ivoire years back. Those sort of decisions can hurt team unity so I hope that gets sorted out
Subs
Chukwueze 4 – Square peg in a round hole, what did we expect?
Onuachu NR – not enough time
Kalu NR – Just happy to see the field after the health scare last week
Special mention to the supporters in the stands. They provided a great atmosphere as the backdrop of the match. Where are our trumpets? I miss that sound during Eagles matches
Good job, Lord AMO.
Better outing for the Eagles next time.
You really watched that match. Nice rating. Exactly how i saw the match. CS should hire you for their match rating analysis. Iwobi is getting worse these days! Etebo hasnt grown from his school boy football. As for Akpeyi, i think Jittery is his middle name…there was an instance were baba had all the chance in the world to pick the ball and delivered a good pass, he waited till the Guinean player got close, before hurriedly kicking the ball to the opponent, we had to commit a foul to stop what could have been a goal.
I think ur rating is quite more better and well organise than so called Journalist that didnt watch the match,applause bro!
Good rating, thank you CS