The Super Eagles of Nigeria continued their quest for a place in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations with a 1-1 draw against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic on Thursday night. The encounter, held at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, was an intense and closely contested affair that saw the three-time African champions come from behind to salvage a point.
Victor Osimhen’s late equaliser ensured the Super Eagles remain on course and qualify for AFCON 2025 with a game in hand, but the match also raised several questions about the team’s overall performance: tactical decisions, and individual displays. From moments of brilliance to areas of concern, the game offered fans plenty to reflect on.
Completesports.com’s ADEBOYE AMOSU takes a closer look at six key talking points from the match, shedding light on standout performances, missed opportunities, and tactical adjustments that shaped the outcome.
1. Osimhen Is a True Talisman
The Galatasaray forward showed his class once again, salvaging a point for the Super Eagles in a keenly contested game.
The 25-year-old missed a glorious chance in the first half but atoned for it with a superb equaliser eight minutes from time.
The goal moved him into second position on Nigeria’s all-time scorers’ chart (23), alongside the legendary Segun Odegbami.
2. Moses Simon Delivers from the Bench Again
As he did in the Super Eagles’ previous outing against the Mediterranean Knights of Libya, Moses Simon’s introduction helped reinvigorate the team’s attack.
The Nantes winger’s pinpoint cross was slotted home by Fisayo Dele-Bashiru against the North Africans last month.
The 29-year-old delivered once again, sending another superb cross that was nodded home by Victor Osimhen.
Read Also:AFCON 2024Q: ‘Super Eagles Must Stay Focused Despite Early Qualification’ –Gbadebo
3. Kelechi Iheanacho Fails to Take His Chance
The Sevilla of Spain star, who has endured a difficult start to life at the La Liga club, was surprisingly handed a starting shirt against the Cheetahs.
The versatile forward, however, failed to justify his inclusion in the starting XI. He struggled to make a meaningful impact and was substituted after the break.
With the array of attacking talent in the team, it remains to be seen if he will get another chance to start for the Super Eagles soon.
4. New Boy Osho Fails To Shine On Debut
Gabriel Osho got the chance to show what he can do at the international level following his impressive displays for his club in recent years.
It was, however, not a good audition for the Auxerre man, as he delivered a below-average performance in the game.
The versatile defender lasted only 45 minutes on the field.
5. Nwabali Struggles in a Super Eagles Shirt For The First Time
The ever-reliable shot-stopper was not at his best against Gernot Rohr’s men. It was his worst performance for the three-time African champions.
The Chippa United goalkeeper was at fault for the goal scored by the Cheetahs and appeared to lack confidence.
6. Iwobi Fails to Replicate Club Form For The Super Eagles Again
Alex Iwobi is one player who has struggled to win over the majority of Super Eagles supporters over the years. There are also questions about his best position.
Much was expected from the Fulham man, especially given his impressive form for the Whites this season.
The 28-year-old, however, failed to live up to expectations again against Gernot Rohr’s side.
Got what it Takes?
Predict and Win Millions Now
15 Comments
CSN, let me add my own observations…
7. Boniface is still struggling for goals. He needs to be lighter on his feet when playing in Africa. Must be able to turn 360 degrees in a milliseconds. The only reason he’s still getting an invite is cos of the profile of his club, Leverkusen. Otherwise, he probably would have been “excused” like Dessers.
8. Nigeria is still searching for a dependable deputy to Osimhen. We struggle for goals when he doesn’t play. Thank God for Lookman, but he’s only a supporting striker.
9. Lookman is not a winger. He thrives better playing behind the main striker to pick up loose balls.
10. We must try other goalkeepers. Thank God the opportunity presents itself on Monday. Condolences to Nwabali. He probably wasn’t in a good state of mind on Thursday. Probably premonitions of what’s to come the next day.
11. The defense was exceptionally porous on Thursday. Missing Ajayi? Poor 1st half formation? The new bouy Osho not gelling with Ekong, Aina, and Bruno?
12. Bruno, like Osayi Samuel, are solid and a big asset going forward, but they must be 100% solid in their defensive roles as well. On his day, Aina does both roles well.
Nigerians it is high time we stop the constant support mediocre then come and cry spilt milk and start to blame our Overseas stars when the writing is always on the wall for months ahead and it is clear that they are playing with no clear direction or Cohesion because of a clueless coach, in-fact let this be a warning to NIGERIANS IF WE DARE GO TO PLAY HUGO BROOS SOUTH AFRICA IN SOUTH AFRICA NEXT YEAR WITH EGUAVOEN AS COACH AND NOT A WORLD CLASS WHITE EUROPEAN COACH THAT READS THE GAME DIFFERENTLY IF WE DON’T COLLECT ABOUT 3 GOALS CALL ME A LIAR. THIS IS TOO UNFAIR HOW CAN WE BE THIS DAFT???? REAPEATING THE SAME MISTAKE YEAR IN YEAR OUT AND EXPECTING A DIFFERENT OUTCOME, IS THIS INSANITY OR WHAT?.
That being said what is the delay in Calling up Tosin Adarabioyo, he is an Upgrade to Ajayi and better than Ekong, He is working his way to Chelsea’s starting XI are we waiting until he is a regular or what and England call him up, whatis this lack of ambition Nigeria is showing lately Tosin is also a better all round player than Osho!.
Nigeria likes to do this Plan to fail Rubbish and it is really becoming stale now it is like we have no ambition to succeed, I mean including a striker (Umar Sadiq) who only played 1 game all season and has no gaols?, as back up to Osimhen? at the expense of Strikers who are banging in goals for their clubs (Cyriel Dessers) and playing at least each game in England (Taiwo Awoniyi). If this is the kind of mentality Nigeria has no Abmbition to imporve then tell me why do we deserve a place World Cup?.
Becuase I tell you what Hugo Broos has eventually created a Juggernaut in South Africa National team and if we are to have a chance at World Cup with them standing in our Way, this squad and Coach will be swept aside in SA don’t say i did not warn you people!!!!!!
You’re making a false narrative.
It’s on record Eguaveon recently defeated a foreigner Coach.
NFF Do the Needful now don’t listen to ditractors in Hind sight Eguavoen has been poor, Dashed a win against Libya in an away game we would have probably lost in a hostile Libya crowd if we are to be honest with ourselves and judge based on what we saw in Rwanda and now Abidjan, so in essense that would have been 2 points we would have collected from 3 games, so we will still be fighting for our place now if not for that 3 points awarded by CAF for Libyia.
ALSO NFF GO AND CALL TOSIN ADARABIOYO HE IS THE DEFENDER WE NEED IN A 4 man back line of Onyemaechi, Ekong, Adarabioyo , Bassey!!
Stop Calling players based on Quota system. and Players based on pitty because they play in NPFL that outdated lack of ambition mentality will casue us to miss a ticket to the World Cup which will be 2 in a row if we miss that ticket the disspointment will cause the team to be demoralised heading into World Cup and will cause a ripple effect that will be hard to come out off, the ball is in our court and it is only 3 key decisions now, get rid of Eguavoen thank him for Standing like Man UTD did with Van Nistelrooy, get a compitent World Class coach to start tuning this team now, get Adarabioyo and call players soley on Merit and quality and not Quota based system, this 3 things will destermine whether Nigeria will keep our status as a big team in Africa and World Football or SA will take our Place in That.
DO NOT SAY I DID NOT WARN YOU PEOPLE!
Thank you
*heading into AFCON* meaning a poor outing at AFCON in November 2025
*Meaning a Poor outing in AFCON 2025*
You warned us @Ugo but we failed to listen. Eguavoen is the worst thing to happen to the Super Eagles. A foreign coach is needed ASAP.
I didn’t see much of the match against Benin to give a rounded review but I thought Eguavoen was brave and perhaps arrogant with a tinge of carelessness to go all-guns-blazing against the opposition.
The parts is saw, particularly in the first half, Super Eagles assumed a 5-2-3 posture with Aina and Onyemaechi pushed higher up the pitch to support wingers Lookman and Iheanacho.
It provided much width and expanded the landscape. Communication was good. Onyemaechi and Lookman particularly: they bounced off each other brilliantly with good timings and precision passes. Aina on the right was bullish with his runs and purposeful in his deliveries.
Eguavoen’s plan was open and clear but it still didn’t prevent it from working. It all about the crosses from the flanks to Osimhen. Again, this worked a treat as cross after cross landed in Benin’s 18 yard box. Iwobi could have converted one of those crosses but his body shape was all wrong and his attempted backflck short was embarrassingly bad. Osimhen connected beautifully with one but dragged his header just wide.
Nigeria, with thier one-trick-pony approach actually created some promising goal scoring chances. They were well coordinated and controlled possession. But Benin had an excellent game plan to lie in wait and ambush the Super Eagles with ruthlessness in counter-attacks which led them to have the neater, better and more precise scoring chances.
Benin unleashed 12 shots at goal against Nigeria’s 5 shots but the Super Eagles bossed possession with 68% against Benin’s 32%.
Unfortunately, the Super Eagles struggled to time their runs having been caught offside at times,one of which was contentious after Iheanacho’s neat through pass located Lookman’s run who was wrongly flagged offside.
On the issue of Iheanacho, he is not a winger. He is now solely a centre forward who can also function as a support striker. He delivered some beautiful cross-field long balls which located Lookman. His passes, when he drifted inside, still looked menacing. But, wide right, he was widely ineffective.
Playing 3 centre backs and 1 defensive midfielder with the wingbacks pushed higher up caused Nigeria vulnerabilities. The Beninois found acres of space to play with a wreck havoc. If they had had they precision boots on, Nigeria would easily have conceded 2 more goals.
Nwabili showed signs of rustiness in this match which was uncharacteristic.
Gabriel Osho had a baptism of fire because Nigeria’s overly attacking approach meant he didn’t have as much support as would have been afforded by the wingback and centre midfielders.
Ekong is a leader but also a liability at times.
Nigeria continues to exhibit poor concentration, poor organisation and poor communication when defending corner kick routines.
And, to me, Moses Simon is way more effective on the left wide wing area than Lookman. Lookman however is more effective the closer to the box 18 he operates.
I wish I could see more of the match and will continue combining YouTube for this.
But for what I saw, I don’t think Ndidi and Iwobi can do the heavy midfield lifting needed for such a formation to work within an offensive orientation. Ndidi maybe but Iwobi now rarely scores goals: a midfielder with an uncanny knack of bulging the back of the neck is needed for this formation to yield the goal(s) needed.
Iheanacho has to be seen as substitute centre forward who actually brings others in to score, rather than score himself. He still has remnants of quality here and there.
What about the defence? Bassey is error prone and Ekong lacks pace and doesn’t always win aerial battles and can be found in no-man’s land.
This Super Eagles side has issues, major issues. But a decent coach can carve out a work-around. I am no coach but if certain issues are not addressed, we might as well kiss the 2026 World Cup ticket goodbye!
@deo I just said don’t blame the players they are playing with instructions handed to them by a coach that does not read a game properly. Footballers are like students they play to the teachers instructions. And right now they are playing to the tune of a coach who has shown on countless occasions he is not at the required level to coach Nigeria. If Eguavoen reads a game properly why will he not watch for instance leverkusen and see that Boniface prefers coming in from. The wing in most cases and start Boniface In that game with Osimhen I stead of Iheanacho? That is just one example also is he blind does he not see that Ndidi is box to box and plays more as a Attacking MF for club and has so many assists. Eguavoen is not a coach dont blame the players this is the big mistake we always make. The coach is poor period.
What transitions do you see this team play what coordinated training pitch routines do you see the. Executing on Match day. Now goa and watch South Africa. You people should stop this rubbish we don’t have much time u less you don’t want Super Eagles at world Cup
Ugo,
If Eguavoen was given the World Cup qualifying campaign to manage from the scratch, I would be hopeful.
Someway somehow, this Afcon qualification campaign was a success. 4 points from Benin, 3 points from a stubborn Libya and 1 point from a determined Rwanda does deserve a decent round of applause.
But we are starting or resuming the world cup qualifiers from the back foot. I very much doubt Eguavoen has tricks up his managerial sleeves to turn the situation around.
If Eguavoen stays in charge for the remaining World Cup Qualifiers, we will not lose matches, but I doubt we will win either. Draws here and there will not do us any good. We drew against Ghana twice and failed to qualify for 2022 world cup.
Unless Eguavoen discovers how to win big when the chips are down, let’s just say sayonara to 2026 World Cup tickets.
The Ghana team Eguavoen couldn’t defeat home or away with the full complement of SE players has finished bottom if it’s last two AFCONs (2021 & 2023) groups and also will likely finish bottom of its 2025 AFCON qualifying group….LMAOoo.
And in a group that has Rwanda, Benin and Libya, Eguavoen could not pull 1 away win.
Forget the fact that we are already 4 points behind in our WCQ group, even if Eguavoen had started the qualifiers, we wouldn’t still qualify. The man just cannot win games away from home…LMAOoo
He’s a much worse coach now that 20yrs ago when he first got a chance to handle the national team.
Ugo,
If Eguavoen was given the World Cup qualifying campaign to manage from the scratch, I would be hopeful.
Someway somehow, this Afcon qualification campaign was a success. 4 points from Benin, 3 points from a stubborn Libya and 1 point from a determined Rwanda does deserve a decent round of applause.
But we are starting or resuming the world cup qualifiers from the back foot. I very much doubt Eguavoen has tricks up his managerial sleeves to turn the situation around.
If Eguavoen stays in charge for the remaining World Cup Qualifiers, we will not lose matches, but I doubt we will win either. Draws here and there will not do us any good. We drew against Ghana twice and failed to qualify for 2022 world cup.
Unless Eguavoen discovers how to win big when the chips are down, let’s just say sayonara to 2026 World Cup tickets.
*Meaning a Poor outing in AFCON 2025*
Very bad performance by the Eagles. We need a foreign coach and we need him fast. Benin played much better than Nigeria, very cohesive with good movements. The deserved to win the game if not for lost chances. You could see they are coached by someone who actually understands football.
South Africa have unfettered access to good coaches but are in short supply of good players.
Nigeria on the other hand have good players but are “blessed” with a mix of mediocre local coaches and clueless foreign coaches.
Best foreign coach we ever had was Clemence Westerhof. In his era Nigeria attained the 5th best team rating in the world and array of world class players.
What got us the achievement was the special interest and oversight of the presidency at that time. Sycophants and scavengers were banished from the NFA and the team. And the 5th best team rating may have been higher if not for some moments of madness before our game with Italy.
Did history help us in our undertakings ever since? Maybe not.
On the match again, Nigeria preparing for Afcon 2025 and 2026 World Cup.