If there is a god of soccer, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, it deserted the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
On the dot of 90 minutes, with only added time of some 5 minutes left to play, Eric Chelle had his plan for winning the match. He replaced a forward with another forward.
He replaced Victor Osimhen, the most consistent finisher in the team, with Boniface who had not scored a single goal for the national team to date. Or has he? If any player was likely to score, it would be Osimhen.
I did not understand the substitution. If Eric wanted the Super Eagles to ‘shut down’ and run down the match as they did successfully against Rwanda, basic tactics would require that he added a player to the midfield/defense area, get the players to keep possession of the ball as much as possible, and to close up the spaces in the midfield, disallowing the opposing team from doing anything constructive.
Also Read: In Football, The Grass Is Everything! —Odegbami
Thats what he did during the Rwandan match after the Eagles were two goals up and time was running out.
Against Zimbabwe, however, the situation was different. With only one goal in the kitty, it was dangerous to do what he did against Rwanda. So, his substitution meant, in basic football tactics, that he wanted to score another goal.
But it was clear the Zimbabweans were desperate, had started to throw everything forward, and were unlucky to have been denied what could have been a goal had VAR been available to check where the ball landed when it struck the crossbar and landed either behind or in front of the Nigerian goal line. No one is still certain where the ball landed.
Still the Super Eagles’ intentions were not obvious – to attack or defend the lone goal? They did neither. The Eagles suddenly looked tired. They started to leave yawning gaps in the midfield and allowed the Zimbabweans plenty of space and time on the ball. They also started to lose possession of the ball with ease, with Lookman attempting solo runs with the ball and losing possession, unnecessarily.
That could, surely, not be Eric’s intentions or instructions. I will still ask him whenever we meet what instructions he gave the team as the match drew to an end.
On the other hand, the Zimbabweans deserve credit for how they started to play, pressing, chasing after every ball, passing and attacking the spaces in the Nigerian midfield and defence opening up with every passing second.
Then it happened. Their persistence paid off.
It was almost on the dot of 90 minutes. The Zimbabweans cut through the Nigerian defense with a pass that ended with only William Troost-Ekong to beat. It was what would be called ‘50/50 ball’ in Nigeriqn football parlance. At this point, it all came down to what he did. The Nigerian captain is a dependable team leader.
Also Read: Letter To Mr. President: ECOWAS Crisis – SPORTS To The Rescue –Odegbami
At that stage of the match, any defender grounded in the Nigerian psyche, how to play when something like the World Cup ticket is at stake, would not think twice about what to do in that instance!
With the prowling attacker running at him and the ball between them, the typical Nigerian defender would have gritted his teeth, shut his eyes, with determination written all over his action, and with almost reckless abandon, cleared everything in his path – ball and the foot of the attacking player. The sound of that kick would have reverted around that stadium, and the ‘fragments’ of the ball and the foot of the opposing player would be picked outside the Uyo township stadium!
Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but the reality is that a Christian Chukwu, Stephen Keshi, Austin Eguavoen, Sunday Eboigbe, Francis Monidafe, or 10-10 Omokaro, or any one of several Nigerian former Captains and defenders, in Ekong’s shoes, would have booted the ball and the Zimbabwean player into the terraces.
Instead, and, unfortunately, what Ekong did may haunt him for the rest of his life. It could be the moment Nigeria lost the opportunity to go to the 2026 World Cup. It could turn out to be his last chance to attend a World Cup. It was a moment Nigerians, all 250’million of them, will remember forever.
Ekong took his leg off the pedal, probably thinking he might trip the attacker and give away a penalty kick (We will never know now). He let the ball and the opposing attacker go through, a gift to the player who slid the ball under a helplessly sprawling Nwabili for an equalizing goal that pierced the hearts of 250 million Nigerians like a knife.
William Troost-Ekong has since apologised for that poor decision, and Nigerians have no choice but to forgive him.
Also Read: An Evening With Eric Chelle! –Odegbami
The bottom line is that Nigeria had no business letting victory slip through their hands with only a few minutes of the match to go. It was a very painful end to what was otherwise a match they had under their control until they scored, and, thereafter, went to sleep.
The silence around the Uyo Township stadium and around the country as a whole, after the match, spoke loudly about the gloom that has since settled over Nigerians.
Last Tuesday was a ‘bad’ day at the market for the Super Eagles. The country would need more than prayers and a Miracle to still make it to the 2026 World Cup.
Daily Diary!
The African Women’s Volleyball Club Championship starts on Monday in Abuja. Clubs from 24 countries, including Nigeria, will be participating. Nigeria will be represented by the Nigerian Customs Women’s Volleyball Club.
I shall be there LIVE and shall be keeping a Daily Diary on my experiences of this first-ever championship. Watch out!
