Completesports.com’s ADEBOYE AMOSU rates the performance of Super Eagles players
in their international friendly against the Greens of Saudi Arabia in Portimao on Friday night…
FRANCIS UZOHO 41/0
The Omonia Nicosia of Cyprus goalkeeper was at fault for Saudi Arabia’s opening goal. Another disappointing display from Francis Uzoho.
TYRONE EBUEHI 5/10
Did little to show he is the right man to occupy the right-back position.
SEMI AJAYI 7/10
A good performance from the West Bromwich Albion defender. He has no doubt cemented his place at the heart of the defence.
CALVIN BASSEY 6/10
Did well in the game. Proved to be a good partner for Semi Ajayi.
BRUNO ONYEMAECHI 6/10
The Boavista player got the nod to start at left-back for the second consecutive game. He put up an above average performance.
WILFRED NDIDI 7/10
The stand-in captain gave a good account of himself. He was the link before the defence and attack.
ALEX IWOBI 6/10
The versatile midfielder didn’t influence the game much. He was replaced by Joe Aribo in the second half.
SAMUEL CHUKWUEZE 4/10
The AC Milan winger wasted a good chance in the first half . The 24-year-old put up a poor display in the game.
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN 4/0
A disappointing outing from the pacy winger. He wasted Nigeria’s best chance in the first half.
VICTOR BONIFACE 7/10
A spirited display from the powerful forward. He troubled the opposition defence for the better part of the game.
VICTOR OSIMHEN 5/10
Victor Osimhen was unlucky not to score in the first half. He was replaced by Terem Moffi in the second half after sustaining an injury.
SUBSTITUTES
KELECHI IHEANACHO 7/10
The Leicester City forward scored the Super Eagles second goal and was unlucky not to add to his tally.
TEREM MOFFI 5/10
Showed his class after replacing Victor Osimhen early in the second half.
MOSES SIMON 5/10
The Nantes winger had a hand in the first goal. Good performance from the substitute.
BRIGHT OSAYI- SAMUEL 3/10
Took the place of Tyrone Ebuehi . He didn’t affect the game much.
JOE ARIBO 3/10
Add nothing to the game following his introduction.
UMAR SADIQ 3/10
Missed a good chance after his introduction. Difficult to see him earn another invitation to the team anytime soon.
42 Comments
Chukwueze is falling my hands big time
Very bad game from Chukwueze. Poor technique and zero ball sense. He passes when he should shoot and shoots when he should pass. Asides the through ball to Lukman (another player who had a very poor game), all his other passes were either too long or too short.
For me Nathan Tella should be drafted into the team ASAP. We can’t rely on Chukwueze and Lukman and Nigeria can’t afford to miss another world Cup.
Chukwueze very poor performance.
When it comes to goal-sense and shooting technique, no Super Eagles player comes close to Iheanacho. He does ‘accuracy before power’.
NIGERIA’S BEST FINISHER ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD IS KELECHI IHEANACHO. OSIMHEN SEEMS TO STRUGGLE WHEN MARKED TIGHTLY OR NOT GIVEN ENOUGH SPACE. CHUKWUEZE SHOULD NOT BE STARTING ANY IMPORTANT GAME FOR US WHEN KELECHI IS FIT AND IN FORM.
Bro don’t let them come for your head o.lol.you know most people in this forum see osimhen as their god..they don’t like him being put below others…
Who wan come me on this forum that I can’t tackle? You sef know me na. Always ready for Vawulence Lmao! For saying my mind and standing by what his visible to the blind and audible to the deaf. Anybody wey hin head dey hallucinate can come for me then. Brother no qualms na my Forum be dis.
He should even be dropped
Sentiment apart Chukweze was selfish in most of his moves yesterday killing the tempo of the game going into the opponent box
He has not been fantastic in national assignment for a long time since becoming part of the nucleus of super eagles despite enough ample opportunity given him so in my opinion he is a club player that does not translate into national results like other international players when they go for their national assignment as such should be left to concentrate in his club football.
We have many options in his position , Nacho can be deployed there, Even Iwobi can be deployed there, and many more.
We can’t keep wasting space for this guy that does not want to improve at national assignment at the detriment of hungry players.
Lastly again the noise about best legs in Europe to be used for national teams always may not translate to results all the time.
Chukweze is good at club level though currently struggling to fit in at AC Milan. But my emphasis is commitment not best legs
It is never a rule
Give all hungry player EQUAL opportunity to give back to the nation during National assignment.
By the way why is Orban Gift sidelined despite the hunger to play for Nigeria?
I want to believe CHUKWUEZE will not be another untouchable AHMED MUSA at the detriment of national result and good football in the team.
Thanks coach Peiseiro for showing some signs of listening hears and I believe you are reading sincere fans’ Comment and considering them
Listening ears*
Looooong Sermon.
Keep it short abeg.
That’s a pure fact. Watch most of his goals on YouTube, you’ll see that 95% of them were made by technique and accuracy rather than power or brute force. Watch that goal he scored against Egypt at Afcon, it wasn’t all about power but technique.
Uzoho rating by CSN = 41/0. Forty One over zero.
Make unu dey try edit this articles na.
Anyway, VACANCY! VACANCY!! VACANCY!!!
Goalkeeper urgently needed. Please apply within.
We also have an attacker problem. Many attackers, NO PROVEN GOALSCORER. Even Osimhen is still lacking that killer instinct, that finishing touch. Osimhen has the zeal and energy, but misses way too many chances. The pinpoint cross from Bruno is a chance Osimhen should be slamming into the net with minimum fuss. At his level, chances like that should be hitting the net. It was a stunning miss.
Lookman also missed a sitter. Chuks had a great chance to shoot with his right foot, but in original Otu Ukwu style, he dilly dallied, tried to move the ball to his left, and THE CHANCE WAS GONE in a jiffy.
We missed so many scoring chances! Apart from the goals scored, I counted at least 5 good chances that should have bulged the Saudi net. All went wasted!
Even with all that, how we managed not to win this game tells a story. We end up drawing a game we should have won by a comfortable margin. Due respect to the Saudis, but they should have been blown away today. However, when you fail to convert the chances that come your way, then your opponent will always have a chance to grab something from the game. That’s exactly what the Saudis did today.
Overrall, not a bad performance from the SE. But we need to accept the reality that perhaps our attack is not as strong as it looks on paper. And we urgently need reliable hands in goal!
The score shud be 6 : 2
I begin to suspect the coach
@Pompei, God bless you, you said it all.
You see, gentleman, I have warned we, the fans and NFF, about the current Super Eagles team.
Most especially in the goalkeeping department and the coaching crew.
This match shows the weaknesses of Oga Paseiro and his players.
The one area you did not talk about is the gaffer himself.
Late subs, and he relies on Uzoho and Okoye. That is where his downfall will come from.
The gaffer and the NFF are doing as if we do not have other young talented goalies that are better than Uzoho and Okoye.
Why not try out Nwabali and Osagwe against Saudi Arabia? We know what Adeleye is capable of doing already, but we still need two good, reliable goalies.
This is the same way Oga Rohr did during his time, but the rest is history.
Oga Paseiro is not the right coach for Super Eagles.
I would rather prefer Finidi to him.
I challenged CSN about the goalkeeping department a few days ago, but nothing changes.
CSN should quickly put the list of the best goalies we have before Afcon so that the gaffer of the Super Eagles and the Nigeria Football Federation can decide which ones will be in the team.
For me, I am going for these three goalies
No1. Adeleye
No2. Osagwe
No3. Nwabali.
Out of the three can become no1 in Ivory Coast.
Are you still there, Pompei? The way it is now. Our strikers are not clinical enough in front of the goal.
This is why sometimes the league can’t be judged by a player but the qualities of the player.
I will still consider Dessers over Moffi and Sodiq. Boniface and Osimhen still have to do more because the two strikers are more reliable. So, Dessers should be considered.
As I said earlier, I don’t believe in Oga Paseiro, and I don’t expect too much from him.
I won’t be surprise if Uzoho and Okoye make it to Afcon while Nwabali, Adeleye, and Osagwe do not make the cut. This is Nigeria where impossible is possible.
We should have won the match easily against Saudi Arabia if the gaffer selected the right tactics while his players converted their chances. Fingers crossed. Hmm. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
The only blemish of the game is the uzoho mistake, seems the second goal Gat little deflection if not I think that also is saveable, good game if you ask me and I like the all round attack peseiro deploy, plus I feel osimhen is a bully kinda player who dealt with average and weak defenders but goof when face with stiff and strong defender. At this rate I will rather the gaffer consider drafting the flying eagles GK or even the falcons GK into the team if possible, bcos this uzoho is a CAP nope for me.
Uzoho and Onana of Manchester United are the same. Very disgraceful. What a basket!
Aribo, Samu, and Lookman did not live up to their billings. The defense was very strong. Thanks to Bassey and Ajayi. We miss Aina today. Moses was very good as usual. It is high time we stop using Aribo. Again, we miss Awo a lot today. On the whole, the standard was very high. Nigeria is getting ready to face the best in Africa, l can tell you that.
@Edoman, Aribo brought in his qualities into the team while Chukwueze and Lookman should be warned. The two fell my hands big time yesterday. Most especially, Lookman.
I believed Aribo did well yesterday. Moses Simon was exceptional in yesterday match.
We have the players, but the selections of the players in the match against Saudis made it harder for our attackers to score goals in the first half. They did not understand themselves upfront, but the midfield and defense were compact.
With what I saw in yesterday match, please, we are not the favorite to win the Afcon, my friend. We have to be honest with ourselves. We have to limit our expectations.
If we go to the Afcon the way it is, then I am sorry for our Super Eagles. Lastly, many thanks to CSN for fixing their website issues. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
And you think Saudi Arabia will be eaten by other contenders for the Afcon?I understand your disappointment for the late equaliser and frustrations for their shyness in front of goal.Having said that,the super eagles where dominant but their profligacy in front of goal coupled with below par goalkeeping cost them a deserving victory.
At least grey areas have been found out so it’s left for the tacticians to put their heads together and put an end hopefully,to it.
Nigeria is still one of the favourites for the Afcon trophy.Iheanacho,Moses Simon must play from the start for creativity henceforth.The likes of Chukwueze should’nt be part of the team going forward Tella and Sariki should be called up for future games.
Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal can not beat Saudi Arabia. We had every opportunity to claim victory but let down by horrible goalkeeping. I hope the gaffer is now seeing the players that can implement his philosophies going forward. I’m afraid we are not winning the AFCON with these set of goalkeepers, unless Adeleye can do an Enyeama between the sticks in Ivory Coast and the WorldCup qualifiers. Our AFCON Triumphs were mostly due to having reliable goalkeepers. I don’t know why it’s becoming a problem for a country of 200 million people not to be able to find a reliable goalie since at least Ikeme.
Absolutely brother @Ayphillydegreat,people think Saudi Arabia is a minnow,I doubt any of the teams you mentioned could outplay the oil rich country like we did last night,had we converted most of our chances their last minute goal would have been a consolation.
Our problem is goalkeeping.This department has cost us the last Afcon,qualification for the last World Cup and perhaps another shocker coming in both qualifications for the next World Cup and Afcon respectively!
The gaffer should consider Anigboso of the recent flying eagles as the first choice and we should look inwards for a good goalkeeper we could discover a good shot stopper from any division in the local league,academies etc.Without a good goalkeeper just like you rightly said,we should forget winning any tournament because no team wins a major tournament with a bad goalkeeper!
Lookman seems to lack zeal and the Nigerian Mentality. He doesn’t understand the magnitude of passion the fans have for SE what is expected of each player. He should be dropped untill he is ready to give 100% whenever call upon
Lookman had a bad game. It happens even to the best players. Other times he’s been good.
I love the defence-splitting pass Chukwueze threaded to Lookman, which the latter incredibly fluffed. But Chukwueze should also remember Iheanacho too is a left footer but is someone who brings better value to the team. His moves are not easily predicted and he packs a punch on that left foot, just as Iwobi does with his right.
Clearly we missed Awoniyi’s constant bullying in the attack, but Sadiq should please concentrate on club football. No more SE invites, no space for his quality level. Perhaps Sanusi will be the only northern rep in the team now. Musa is gone.
As for Uzuho, howlers after howlers. Please it’s no longer common goalkeeper mistakes. It’s his quality level. Somebody that went from the elite Spanish league to a non starter in a Cypriot league, what else can one say? It’s strange that a country that had produced Rufai, Enyeama,and Ikeme cannot get a decent goalkeeper in 4 years. What exactly does Paseiro’s goalkeeper trainers scout?
If we go to Afcon in January with this guy or Okoye between the sticks, we’ll be out in the first round. Forget our attacking array. We won Afcon in 1994 and 2013 cos we had good goalkeepers (Rufai and Enyeama). We also did well at the last Women’s world cup cos we had a solid goalkeeper. No team can ever do well or win a tournament with an average goalkeeper. Never. Goalkeepers are the fulcrum of the team’s success. A poor keeper will undo all the team’s best efforts in midfield and attack.
As for Paseiro, your team play is fluid with waves and waves of attack, but your Win stats are in red. What’s happening? This same Saudi team lost all their previous 5 games, although one must acknowledge they now have a master tactician. SE is becoming like Arsenal of old – sexy, entertaining football, no results, no trophies.
All Nigerian youth goalkeeping coaches and scouts in the last 10 years have a lot to answer for. It’s a disgrace that a country of 200m does not have 1 decent goalkeeper. Its a national disgrace; but not a surprise because keepers are not produced by just natural talent (like regular players).
It takes far more effort to produce a goalkeeper than outfield players and the reward does not come as quickly, so it seems our coaches are not ready to do the hardwork. The NFF and YSFON really need to sit up because their laziness is affecting everyone.
In the meantime the headcoach and his scouts need to convince the Freiburg first choice keeper to switch to Nigeria (from Germany) in time for the AFCON and World Cup qualifiers. Okala, Rufai and Enyeama won us three AFCONS. Uzoho is no where near that level and we need a solution quickly
kelechi iheanacho is a class player any time any day. he is the best finisher the super eagles have and the most accurate one.he is a definite starter in the team. tyronne ebuehi shouldn’t be in the team if we have aina and samuel. he was troubled throughout the time he was on he pitch. samuel played way better when he came on, his movement from the right-back position was classy. chukwueze should be left on the bench. both he and lookman should start from the bench, they are not improving in their games and should sit and watch others from the bench. peseiro should improve his tacics, we need three (3) men in midfield otherwise our opponents will overrun us. he can start with osimhen, boniface and iheanacho and moses simon. both boniface and iheanacho can drop in to midfield interchangeably and simon can provide cover for the full back, something lookman never does. Uzoho should sit on the bench or be left out of the team. he was match rusty and it showed. im not sure maduke would have done any better. they are both average goalies. we should go to the npf league and get active goalies who are decent and use them instead of this show of shame maduke and Uzoho keep displaying on a regular basis. must our number one goalie play in europe even though he always sits on the bench in his club ??? onyemachi played well but zaidu is still our number one left-back, we should try more persons in defence, torunarigha is there. we can also play a 3 man defence sometimes as well, this will free our full backs to overlap more, especially when we have tricky and pacy full backs like zaidu , aina and samuel. it will also put more men in midfield. these people should not spoil his team. i expect improvements in the next game, those who are yet to taste action should be allowed to play and lets see what they can do. Boniface is still warming up and blending with the team.
Yet some strange people have been speaking ill of Kelechi. A lot of people praising Kelechi Today once abused life out of him. But today they’re claiming ownership, if tomorrow he doesn’t score they’ll completely hate him as they have started talking Osigoal down because of one match drought forced out by injury. Most of our players are doing well except the goal keepers. Adeleye is the worst of the pack I bet all of you. He’s too short and not a goal keeper for me. He saves and concedes easily and every catch is like a panic of skills. Inconsistency is the best words to use. Uzoho has just messed himself, he is to blame for remaining on bench in a small league.
Lol! @Monkey Post. You Dey mind that Ghana refugee Lmao!! Dem no born am well. If anyone wants to talk about talking down on Kelechi he should look himself in the mirror.
I don’t know when I’ve ever idolized Osimhen Lmao!! Apart from always talking about how he can improve his game as he still got a lot to learn in the game. If he’s not pulling his weight Awoniyi will take over as our top 9.
SuperEagles is not anybody’s property. It’s either you’re in form or give other people a chance. Majority of Osimhens goals in the qualifiers came against São Tomé and Principe.
Against tough tackling teams he fades out. It’s not talking down it’s what we’ve been seeing. He needs to hit the gym and harness some muscle.
As for Chukwueze he should never start any important match for us again when Kelechi is around and fit. Kelechi that I’ve known that he will play for the SuperEagles since his U13 days. Awọn Irọlabi ọmọ Ghana Lmao!!
Lol…
I am just joining my voice with others. We need a change in that Goalkeeping department. We were bolted out of last AFCON due to Maduka’s howler and we missed out of Qatar 2022 because of Uzoho’s mistake. Please it is time to try out other Goalkeepers.
Samuel Chukwueze, for a long time has not painted his game in the Super Eagles with the right colours and we must start thinking about alternatives on the right hand side of the pitch, Kelechi Iheanacho comes to mind but i feel he is best suited behind the striker. In my honest opinion, i think we should try Ejuke there before the Nations cup.
This team needs a player who can play with trickery, so i suggest Aribo being dropped for Ejuke.
We also need fortifying the defense line, Ajayi and Bassey did well but i think tge Coaches should have a look at the guy in Slavia Prague, Igho or stuff, cannot really remember his name, push Calvin to Left Back. Against though opposition, we can play three centre backs, Ajayi, Bassey and Igho or Omeruo, three midfielders, Onyeka, Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho or Iwobi, attack, Simon, Osihmen and iheanacho.. GOALKEEPER, anybody but not Uzoho and Maduka.
Thank you sports fan Green hurt and some others on this thread.
Sometimes I wonder Nigerians get scared when we talk about afcon especially when eagles have a bad day.
Afcon is not the world cup. Our fears usually make us forget this.
We had a friendly match. We saw the errors. The problems are not the errors or our observations the problem is it we fail to do something about them.
Pessero is trying to do this. He stopped inviting Musa and ekong. Rohr was scared to do that.
He is trying to see the best combination for the central defense. He stopped inviting akooguna. He is trying to settle down with ajayi and bassey and probably have the experienced omeruo and tourinaga as back ups.
I am sure his full backs are settled now. He tried to see ebuehi but I believe ebuehi is gone. Pessero won’t use him innthe next match.
He is playing a two man attack and I believe oshimen, awoniyi and Boniface are his preferred candidates. Sodiq and moffi were not initially invited
The midfield is another area he is trying to see regular candidates. Ndidi and iwobi and onyeka are sure candidates.
I believe this is good organization. This is what westerhof did with eagles in those days.
Going forward. Pessero stop inviting uzoho. That was very very poor goalkeeping skills..He lacks confidence. Match rusty..he does not deserve that position.
I love omonaija suggestions. Osigwe nwabali and adeleye. I am also adding take the risk look for good home based goal keepers. They can turn out good if given the chance.
My assessment about lookman. He is not ready for eagles. He has not measured up..no fire and hunger in him. At best put him on the bench. The worst of Simon is better than the best of ademola.
Chukwueze. Bench him or Stop inviting him. If he is not careful, he will just fizzle out. Let him go and study robben games. He does not deserve to put ihenacho on the bench. Very poor player.
Boniface will do wonders for Nigeria. Great player.
Bassey is doing some good things in the center. I pray he improves.
Deseers is far better than sodiq and moffi..He is a better scorer and his all-round play is better.
Can we look at gift orban situation. I still prefer him even if he is not doing well now than this sodiq who was busy eating his fingers off when he was to be brought in yesterday.
Let us see what pessero will line up on Monday. I know him. Ihenacho will start. Osayi will start. Adeleye will start. He will ring the changes. That’s how to use friendly matches to bring about changes and to help the team.
I want to see tourinaga on Monday too.
Please don’t always get scared about afcon. I stopped getting scared. Our team in 2013 was one of the least prepared and very low in quality compared to previous teams yet they won the afcon.
If not for okoye and eguavon error we should have done better last time. We blew every team away in the group stages. We usually make the podium at afcon over the years.
So I believe we can and we should afcon next year.
Tge team attacked and defended well yesterday
As they STOPPED INVITING MUSA sebi you don WIN the FRIENDLY? if you like don concentrate on your next game be there and be saying GENERAL ROAR was SCARED. EWU SAO TOME!
Or as they STOPPED INVITING MUSA sebi e stopped UZOHO from commiting BLUNDER. Don’t go and work on your mistakes be there and be wailing..afcon that is already around the corner maybe you think it’s next two years
Really I don’t reply comments on this thread especially comments from people like you. But I m going to reply this. I think your name fits your mentality – monkeys don’t think like human (laughs).
Anyway, I stand by what I wrote. You’re still buried with the ghost of rohr. He is gone for good. He won’t coach Nigeria again. Let him qualify Benin for afcon first.
Henceforth, the coach should stop gas lightning the poor Nigerians that his team will win the NC. Even if his employees are telling him to say that in other to win the love of the fans, he needs to know this team is not anywhere near a winning team.
Firstly, we do not have a good goal keeper. Even an NPFL goal keeper performance cannot be as worse than what we are experiencing from uzoho. GR brought in an Ezenwa to the team after ikeme illness. Asked one of his goal keeper trainer to Coach uzoho before the WC. Gave okoye his debut after uzoho injury. The old man is never contended with below par performance. Hence, the constant change in the goal keeping department.
Secondly, if the team best defender is Semi Ajayi? I don’t know how you want to win a tangible game.
Records have shown that in most cases a Goalkeeper is a key differentiator between winning and losing.
Unlike benchwarming sabi players who require just days of personal commitments and trainers efforts to attain a satisfactory level of performance, a sabi ĺbenchwarming sabu goalkeeper will require at least a month of regular training and commitments from trainers. Not to talk of an otondo who is more than a decade older than his official age, who is not considered good enough to be a starter in a below top 500 clubs.
I have said it several times Uzoho is not a nation team material.Roaring Rohr helped his career to blossom but failed to instill discipline and longevity into his career like he did to Ekong, Okoye, and Chuks.
By now Pesseiro should have known that there are various class of players in his team.
Dedicated Starters: Aina, Semi, Ndidi, Iwobi,Bassey, Onyeka, Sanusi,Osi9, Awo, Boni, and Simon.
Game Changer; Kelechi, Boni, in-form Musa, Lookman, Omeruo, Balogun.
Overhyped players; Chuks, Awaziem,Ekong,
training materials:; Uzoho and Okoye.
Hmm …. everyone is now coming out to blame the goal keeping department, some have stubbornly supported okoye during Rohr’s reign and now they are seeing clearly what some of us had seen from the onset. In my estimate, the blame of yesterday’s calamity display by uzoho should fall squarely on peseiro. This guy was the reason ( along with our profligacy in front of goal) we did not qualify for the world Cup. Since his injury Uzoho has not been good. To think that these officials are paid such staggering amount of money but can not make good decisions especially at the gk department is criminal.
Having vented, let us look at the positives.
1. The performance in terms of cohesion was very good. I was quite impressed of how they played out from the back and how dominant we were. With a little calmness in front of goal and the mood of fans will be different.
2. Ndidi is back to form. It is said form is temporal but class is permanent, Ndidi is back to his best at the perfect time leading to the afcon.
3. Iwobi in Central midfield is the solution. The midfield combo of ndidi + iwobi + boniface was very fluid. I know the coach will be quite excited . I will like to see fisayo in midfield for the next game, his pace and shooting skills could make this team even scarier.
4. The eagles were quite compact.Bassey will be the leading center back of the two. It was a dominant display from the Fulham defender. Semi had a decent game also.
5. In my opinion,bruno will be our main left back at afcon . Another excellent display from him yesterday.
6. I think we need to add tella to the mix. His numbers feom the wings is way much better than chukwueze. We should not be quick to crucify chukwueze, his display was inconsistent but not bad. He was more effective than is compatriot on the left. He drifted into midfield and gave a defense splitting pass to lookman , so there is quality there.
7. Osayi, iheanacho and Simon all had good showing.
8. The coach should immediately and assuredly find other options in the goal keeping department. Failure to do that and we might be in for shock results and early exit. Osigwe,atubolu, okonkwo should tried for hostilities resume at the afcon.
God bless Nigeria and the SE!
Nice one
Aribo, sadiq , maduka and uzoho have no biz with this team. I think in midfield , he will go with 2 dms namely ndidi and onyedika. In central midfield, he will go with iwobi and onyeka. I have a sneaky feeling that fisayo would be his attacking midfielder at afcon. Which would mean he might go with a 3 man attack : osimhen, awoniyi and boniface.
Wingers for now will moses simon, lookman , chuks and iheanacho.
Defenders : bruno, sanusi, bassey,semi,Jordan, omeruo, osayi and aina.
In summary the team is taking shape but there is a ton of work to be done in the gk department.
Super Eagles coaching crew has a lot to do in the Goalkeeping unit. Uzoho does not deserve to be our first choice. Osayi and Aina should cement the right back position, Bruno and Sanusi should occupy the left back position while Ajayi, Ekong, Bassey and Omeruo should handle the CD. Players like Jordan and Tella should be tried while Godwin Saviour and Ifeanyi Mathew should also be looked at.
By the way, why the heck does Uzoho start games? E remain small mek Ndidi (barrack-boy) slap am yesterday. That guy can be very annoying in goal. One munite he’s Casillas, the next munites he’s Onana, mtcheew
Quite an uninspiring game for me and many soccer fans, particularly at this time when we’re gauging the strength of the team in readiness for AFCoN. The game left many totally distraught, judging from poor goalkeeping of Francis Uzoho and disappointing performances of Samuel Chukwueze and his fellow Italian based winger, Ademola Lookman, the major culprits of the game. Following the many poor goalkeeping errors of Uzoho in the Saudi Arabia game and other games, it’d be most unfair to overlook other aspiring goalkeepers with AFCON few months away. Paseiro’s decision to continue to keep Uzoho in goal despite his howler is ill-advised and condemnable. Uzoho should be allowed to tow Maduka’s way: to sort out his club form before his invitation to the national team. The Super Eagles is not a rehabilitation center for out of form players. Having imposing height at 6″6ft is not enough consideration for national team invitation; sharp reflexes and other qualities should come into view. At this rate, Pasiero will be advised to consider giving Adeleye Adebayo a try out to further assess his readiness and suitability. Adebayo Adeleye had been in fine form for his Israeli club though stands at 5’10 which is short of average height for most goalkeepers yet has shown impressive reflexes. It’s hope that what he lacks in terms of big frame he make-up for in sharp reflexes. It remains to be seen if he’ll be given a chance in the next game against Mozambique.
One other department that’s deserving an urgent attention is the midfield. The middle is short of quality in areas of creativity and passing range. Iwobi over couple of games has proven that he lacks the capacity and the techniques required to effectively lead the role. Yesterday, he was decent but needs to horn his skills to cut the mark. Alternatively, Iwobi might be considered to fill in in the wings where he’s best suited, particularly at the time when Ademola Lookman and Samuel Chukwueze blow hot and cold. A wing role for Iwobi might possibly allow Iheanacho to assert himself in the offensive midfield role, playing deep and providing supplies of balls to the atack as well as creating opportunities to pull triggers where necessary.
Consistency and tenacity would be key for him in this regard.
One other option, though remote is Kelechi Nwakali. Though many is yet to be convinced of the quality that Kelechi holds but for the close observer of his game, he about the only Eagle with quality passing and shooting range after the exit of Mikel Obi and Etebo. His dead balls skills are second to none in the present constituted SUper Eagles squad. His major undoing like many others is consistency in form. Given this much quality, he’s sure to be a good addition to the already midfield which is short in quality. For good measure, Raphael Onyedika of Club Brugge is a safe addition to the defensive midfield, where he’ll be able to understudy Ndidi Onyinye.
One other player many hope to see in the next friendly against Mozambique is Chidozie Awaziem of Boavista. Ithink he’s done enough at club level this season to earn a spot in the Eagles’ defence. Decent outing from the pair of Ajayi and Bassey, both of whom have had regular action hard to come by at club level in the last three weeks.
It’ll be exciting to see Gent’s young defender Jordan Torunarigha and Chidozie Awaziem manage the centre halves in Monday’s tie. Bright Samuel Osayi might have secured the right back for himself after his impressive debut game against Portugal. A starting berth against Mozambique will further help him consolidate.