Reigning African champions Algeria made it three straight wins against the Super Eagles of Nigeria as they secured a 1-0 win in Friday’s international friendly at Worthersee Stadium in Klangefurt, Austria, Completesports.com reports.
An early goal from Bensebaini Rami secured the win for Algeria.
The game saw debutants Frank Onyeka and Zaidu Sanusi make the starting eleven for the Eagles.
Hoffenheim defender Kevin Akpoguma and Samson Tijani also made their debut coming on in the second half.
The Eagles will hope to bounce back from the defeat when they take on Tunisia in another friendly on Tuesday.
Algeria went close on 3rd minutes from a dangerous cross from the left but Zaidu Sanusi cleared for a corner.
The Foxes’ positive start eventually paid off as they opened scoring in the 6th minute through Rami.
Rami reacted quickest off his header which came off his own player from a corner-kick to slam into the net.
Maduka Okoye was called into action in the 20th minute as he got down well to stop a low shot from Said Benrahma.
The Eagles had their first chance of the game through Alex Iwobi who drove toward the Algerian area only to hit his shot just wide of the target.
In the half hour mark Samuel Kalu got into a good position on the left, beat his marker with a couple of step -overs, but blazed his effort way over the bar.
Algeria almost doubled their lead on 36 minutes, but Okoye produced a superb save to palm away a well taken free-kick by Andy Delort.
A minute later Paul Onuachu had a chance to equalise after meeting Sanusi’s cross which came off the Algerian keeper for a corner.
The Eagles continued to find good opening and went close again on 42 minutes but Kalu’s shot from out the box was well saved by the Algerian keeper.
The Eagles made their first change before the start of the second half with Mikel Agu replacing Onyeka.
Five minutes into the second half Moses Simon went in for Kalu who got a knock to the knee earlier while attempting to get to a long pass.
On the hour mark Tyronne Ebuehi tried a long range shot which went just off the target.
In the 65th minute William Troost-Ekong made a timely intervention to cut out a dangerous low cross.
The Eagles made double change on 67 minutes with Kelechi Iheanacho and Kevin Akpoguma replacing Onuachu and Ebuehi respectively..
The Algerians had a free-kick in a decent area following a foul by Leon Balogun but Delort’s low effort missed the target.
In the 85th minute Okoye made a good save as he tipped away a cross to safety.
In the added time Iheanacho almost snatched a late equaliser but saw his effort from a free-kick miss target.
Super Eagles Lineup Vs Algeria
Maduka Okoye – Tyronne Ebuehi (Kevin Akpoguma 66′), Zaidu Sanusi, Leon Balogun.William Troost-Ekong, Alex Iwobi (Samson Tijani 84′), Frank Onyeka(Mikel Agu 46′), Semi Ajayi, Samuel Kalu (Moses Simon 49′), Samuel Chukzuweze (Ahmed Musa 75′), Paul Onuachu (Kelechi Iheanacho 66′)
By James Agberebi
Got what it Takes?
Predict and Win Millions Now
20 Comments
My SE players assessment:
OKOYE – 6.5 – Good performance…2 great saves in the 1st half. The 2nd half was more routine for him
EBUEHI – 6 – Good game too….marshalled the right side of the defense excellently
TROOST-EKONG – 5.5 – Not a bad, look sloppy when marking Boulaya and Abeid at times, but did what was necessary
BALOGUN – 7 – Another yeoman’s performance from balogun, neat and tidy in tackles, moved the ball out of defense very well and generally was always in the right place at the right time in the box to snuff out any dangers.
SANUSI – 6.5 – Good game too….marshalled the left side of the defense excellently did exceptionally in keeping mahrez quiet till the Man city dazzler was hauled off
ONYEKA – 5 – stuggled to assert himself. Showed too much respect for Algeria at times. But a decent backup anyday for the unavailable midfielders
AJAYI – 4.5 – Poor game in midfield today, the fast and pacy algerians always went past him as if he wasnt there. Rohr pls move him back to the Defense.
KALU – 4 – Was just on the pitch to showboat. Did produce much on the night.
CHUKUWEZE – 4 – Another disappointing performance from samu by his standards tonight. He might still be in Bensabaili’s pockets till bensabaili empties them when he gets to the hotel
IWOBI – 7.5 – Emphasized his importance to this team once again. He was our liveliest and most productive player going forward. We lost initiative in the 2nd half when he started tiring out. Had our best shot on goal in the 1st half with his shot from range fizzling inches right of the cross bar. We need an alternative to Iwobi in the SE ASAP if we are to make any impact in the next 2 tournaments such that if one Iwobi tires out, another Iwobi can come in and continue from where he stopped.
ONUACHU – 3 – Its been a while the SE played a game with 1 man short. Today we played one with Onuachu leading our attack. I cant really point out any notable contribution form the RCK Genk man apart from him loosing his man as we conceded in the 5th minute.
SUBS. – 4 each – None of the substitutions brought the needed drive and inspiration the team needed to have a change of fortunes in the 2nd half.
‘he might still be in Bensabaili’s pockets till bensabaili empties them when he gets to the hotel’lolzzz @ drey, you killed it with that. lolz. Just a bad day for my wazza dazzler chuzzy but i take consolation that he always play with great zeal, that drive to want to make things happen. Sadly that just didnt happen yesterday. It takes nothing away from the fact that Chuzzy and Kalu remains one of SUPER EAGLES most potent weapons. Opponents strategy are now centred on how to cut out their threat.
Seriously speaking Okoye , Ebuehi , Ajayi,Balogun, Chukwueze were the outstanding players to me. The midfield was crap the attack sucks . Giving way for the Algerian attack to pound our defence and causing them to give so many corner kicks which resulted in the goal that they scored . Honestly, today’s match wasn’t cool at all. I do not understand why a coach like Rohr would have such abundant players but can’t utilise them in a way that could make them show more technicalities in their game . I remember the game against Ukraine and Brazil , do someone want to tell me that those boys don’t have what it takes to defeat those two teams in the first two friendly matches. And looking at this one it’s like he being a coach have abundant talents but is not doing much with them . Look at onachu, he could score for Genk but for the Eagles he was struggling because the midfield didn’t do their jobs . How do one expect such a player to score for his national team which such crappy midfield performance. Seriously something is definitely wrong . One may say that he’s experimenting but seriously he’s not being objective about this crop of players . A lot needs to be done . Honestly .
MY OBSERVATIONS.
Atleast the hype about ONUACHU scoring 8 goals in 6 matches has finally come to end.
The hype that MIKEL AGU is this and that is dead and buried.
That guy is just an upgrade of FERGOR OGUDE…. Only good at commiting unnecessary fouls…
Now we know those that deserve to be in the super eagles.
ONYEKA is still miles away.
Our midfield still remain NDIDI-ARIBALL-ETEBO-IWOBI any time any day in case they ask you.
MADUKA OKOYE is the man in charge, tell the rest GK to stay clear.
We’ve gotten a left back in ZAIDU SANUSI.
EBUEHI is a gem.
The days of TROOST EKONG are numbered.
Don’t ever count BALOGUN out.
He may be down and out of form, but he’s not necessarilly out; he’s still that mount EVAREST.
Finally;
one day monkey go go market but e nor go come back.
It has finally happened;
always coming from a goal down is not always adviseable.
We’ve learn a learson now.
Haters where are u.
Show us your urgly faces…
I come in war…..
Mr man we don’t need your rubbish assesement, what happened to your stats, that makes them better than others. Guess your call for UEFA licensed training can be thrown in your face. The same local coach came back to school your World class. No one was outstanding in this game but Ebuhei and Iwobi, all the noise about german wall. Hope you saw how your kevin was gasping for air on the flanks.
I don’t really blame our coach, it was unfortunate for him to lose almost all his best midfielders same time. Even when ndidi is not playing a certain etebo usually cover for him but today both were not available, plus a very useful aribo.. We need more reinforcement in midfield, ejarie of reading is badly needed at the moment, this agu and oyeka pls they should be excused from the team for now.
Ajayi did what he could, but the midfield is just not his position. Much better suited for playing as a center back.
As for Frank “The new Ndidi” Onyeka, we don see am finish. Same goes for Mikel Agu.
Awful performances from our wingers Kalu, Chukwueze, Moses Simon and Musa. The wing play was just so poor today. A big reason for this was the tendency of wingers to want to overdribble. Against organized sides like Algeria, quick, intelligent passes will do a lot more damage than dribbling.
Onuachu! Far from convincing performance. Yes, he got no help from the wingers. No service for a striker who is absolutely dependent on quality crosses into the box. However, I expected him to put himself about and try to be a nuisance. Try to make something happen. Nothing doing. I think we can do a lot better. There are a few strikers out there who can do much better than what was on display today.
Exactly. My exact grouse with Onuachu. No hold up play, no pressure on the defenders, no outlet from long balls, no movement. You cant just go and sit in your opponents box and expect crosses, especially from wingers whose games are not modelled to put aerial crosses into the box. Kalu in not a good crosser, chukwueze is not, Simon is not, neither is mua nor Ejuke…..so who is he expecting crosses from…? He will soon render himself a persona non grata to this team.
We might as well have had a giraffe as a striker. Awkward, ungainly. Not intending to be too harsh on the lad, but he really needs to up his game if he wants to be an integral part of this squad. As it is, he is just not good enough.
If the ONLY thing Onuachu can do on a football pitch is to nod ball. Then he should remain at Genk. If he cannot use the rest of his body to do anything else then he should pls excuse us. We have had enough. Otherwise if he werent useless he would atleast have kept the CDs busy and could have been an outlet for us with some good hold-up play where our midfield was not coping. To think Iwobi was the one that had to go and be charging at the central defenders and pressing from the front even makes Onuachu more useless tonight.
Onuachu poor,ekong average,balogun spectacular, sanusi secured his place,ajayi poor,iwobi baller,chukwueze good intent but overdoing,kalu poor,okoye here for stay ebuehi good as always,iheanacho shadow of himself,musa rusty,onyeka here nor there,akpoguma debut,tijani looks bright…. Generally the team need ejeria ,ademola lookman and ejeria..it shows that we don’t have capable midfield back up…..it is just a friendly though
Balogun deserve more than 7.I will him 9.He got it all correct. If not for him algeria will have scored more goals. I think Onachu has played for the S.E .let him continue his club adventure. We wish him well. As for his S.E career its over. Another player i dont understand is chukueze; is he growing of diminishing? Next few games will help fans see him well. Musa is gone for gone. He has now develop a protruding tommy. There is football competition is saudi or china. If he can move to top five Europe league better otherwise Musa ahmed is finiahed. Tijani showed some flashes of a good midfieder. Lets give him another chance. Ihenacho seem not to be growing. Iwoba has shown that class is permanent. If a had a top 9 that will be running into places he will hav done better. The goal keeper did very well too.
Where’s @Omo9ja and his crew….
Come oooooo!
We want to hear from you….
This forum is too dull….
We need fire pls….
Your world class PAUL LEWANDOSKI ONUACHU was playing aginst us, i shebi u know?
He was even defending for ALGERIA….
BUAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I was not expecting much from the team today knowing we have to drive Ajayi i a makeshift midfield. As for Musa, abeg the time is up for am make him give way for younger and much energetic players. Neither Onuchu nor Ihenacho is suited for the number 9 role perhaps it’s time we see the new striker for proper assessment.
Why all this noise about Onuachu not pressure the defense, How is he going to trouble the defenders, when your 2 headless wingers wanted to show off by dribbling and loosing possession at the same time. Please the 2 free kicks taken by chukuweze and kalu, which one reached Onuachu. The guy was just frustrated. Abeg if you no sabi analyze game, just keep mute.
@Kenneth … Onuachu link up play is zero and he lost possession of the ball many times . Suarez , Frimino and even VO7 are always pressing defenders in every match even when the team is not with the ball BUT onuachu didn’t do any that throughout the 70MINS . KALU and CHUKWUEZE are over-rated and the midfield is empty as you state yourself .
I feel the coach needs to try EJUKE and DRESSER to know what they can add to the team .
Kindly take your time to watch all Super eagle match with Onuachu as the striker , you can confirm his link up play with team-mates is non-existing and he looses possession of ball many times in every match for the EAGLES .
It is just a friendly match and now the coach and crew are aware that the team is just an average team
…
God bless Nigeria
A lot of yall comments are contradicting. One comment a player is good, another comment a player is bad. If super eagles get an African coach, it will be corrupted. If they get a white coach they will be put on pressure to get mixed biracial players because of angry fans. I dont know what its gonna take to see that this team is no good and wont do well. All I know is Onuachu is trash and always be trash. He was in champions league last season and did not score at all. Had only 10 goals last season, so did Samatta but he scored in champions league games and went to Aston Villa. Onuachu don’t know how to use his height for the benefit on the game, he cant even dribble. Could of got Maja or Olayinka, but nooooo. Hopefully Ivory Coast and or Senegal will bring glory to next world cup because this team aint cutting it.
By or mere mensioning the name of some coaches everybody in football circuit knows Wat they stand for eg trouseir the white witcho doctor. 2.westerhor. 3.onigbinde 4 e t c. .even wen they parade a make shift team . .. I still don’t know where to place rohr.
Anybody saying Chukwueze is over rated is talking rubbish. He played some balls in for Onuachu but the Sluggish Paul could not latch on. Chukwueze is still young and playing in a Top team in spain and unai Emre loves him and will develope him he is an intergral part of the SE. It is time for Musa to step aside Onyekuru will do better than him. Samuel Kalu just needs more game time.
As For Midfield Any team missing Ndidi, And Aribo will struggle. Peter Etebo would have also done better than Agu and Onyeaka.
Look Whom so ever opens their mouth and say Nigeria Will not Miss Victor Osimhen Again Abi una don hear word now Right?
Nigeria should speed up Ademola Lookman’s switch. He seems to be the only Nigerian striker at the level of Osimhen.
Ekong should no longer be on the first 11 and should be stripped of the deputy captain armband. CB should be Balogun and Akpoguma (Akpoguma was played out of position as a RWB yesterday when Ekong was actually the problem at the back).
The starting backline should be Okoye/Uzoho, Ebuehi, Akpoguma, Balogun and Zaidu.
Samuel Kalu is talented but needs to be humbled with a bench role. Let’s see what Ejuke can do. Chukwueze, this is not age grade competition. Limit your dribbles. Do one-twos. Tiki taka.
Iwobi was the only natural midfielder yesterday. Onyeka is still green. This should be Aribo, Ndidi and Iwobi’s turf for now. Ejaria is urgently needed here too. NFF please speed up the switches.
By and large, the friendly was good cos it helped us see our weaknesses and strengths clearly. We now know the overweight or sluggish and unfit players to be excused going forward like Iheanacho, Onuachu. Even Musa. They’ve overfed and ballooned, which was what affected Onazi.