If thriving in chaos was a team, it would Nigeria.
Until the day before their opening match with Egypt, there was denial and indifference about the national team’s chances at the Africa Cup of Nations. Not only have the team played masterfully, despite their results, and secured a spot in AFCON and the World Cup playoffs, doubts still remain about their chances of even being eliminated from their group.
Twenty-four hours later, the gloom has eased, the indifference is gone, and there’s a fresh breeze of faith and optimism from fans after a disaster. 1-0 deconstruction of seven-time champion Egypt in Garoua.
Kelechi Iheanacho tore home a world-class attack in half an hour, and the Super Eagles survived the belated siege to take all three points from the tournament opener. To be fair, the dotted line delighted the Pharaohs. It could easily be at least four.
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But, more than the results, that’s how the Super Eagles handled it Mohamed SalahThe Pharaohs ran around the field for a more amazing 90 minutes that got the fans buzzing and believing again.
Super Eagles interim coach Augustine Eguavoen said the performance went down due to the change in style.
“Every coach has their style, philosophy and leadership,” he said after the game. “We want to play attacking football that is our identity. I told the players to see me as their brother and father. We have a path towards the same direction, we have privilege to serve our country, and we must always give ourselves the best.”
That effort is exactly what fans have been asking the players to show off for the past year or two.
Social media bursts of praise for the team unseen since their arrival at the 2018 World Cup, and there are plenty of Nigerian fans who have now instantly installed the Super Eagles as the team. favorite to win all-round. Maybe a bit too soon.
“Good job boys, that’s how we do it,” former captain Nwankwo Kanu said on Instagram. “One is gone, the game is coming. That’s how we’re going to do it, the same way and then win. The Cup is coming back.”
None of that looks likely to be Tuesday’s clash.
Besides the numerous troubles in the process of building the Cup of African Nations – not least of which was the firing of coach Gernot Rohr – there are many people who would forgive West Africans if they fell for one of the best teams on the continent in the inaugural AFCON game.
Not Nigerian.
And certainly not Eguavoen, who clearly showed that emotion within days of being appointed to fill the role left by the sacked Rohr.
“Time is pretty short, we all know that. But we are Nigerians and once you go to a tournament everyone expects you to win,” he said.
“Nobody cared what happened before that. From the whistle, nobody wanted to hear excuses, but with the quality of players we have, I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”
On Tuesday before Egypt, they certainly weren’t. If anything happens, they are incredibly famous for dominating seven-time champions.
An outsider watched the game and advised that one of the two teams playing was sacked by their coach two weeks before the tournament, having lost four starters to injury and one substitute. a club with fangs, and with only a week of training, they could be forgiven for thinking it was the red team.
In small detail, Egypt has had the same coach for the past four months and recently returned after competing in the Arabian Cup, where the majority of the players joined under the same coach. coach and placed fourth.
But Eguavoen comes with a special advantage. He knew the terrain well, navigating it twice. First as an assistant in 2004 under Christian Chukwu, and then on his own in 2006. On both occasions, he won bronze.
That experience was definitely worth something, and it did. In the process of preparing for Egypt, Eguavoen must focus on his team as much as possible.
Rohr was fired despite the team qualifying for AFCON, and securing a spot in the 2022 World Cup knockout round.
Rohr’s biggest “sin” was that the team failed to pass the eye test of playing good football. At that time, Eguavoen’s main task was to get the team to play the football that the fans loved.
And he did.
For the first time since the 2018 World Cup qualifying series, the Super Eagles competed with tempo, energy, mettle. They narrow the space, they win the second ball, and they use up the full width of the field, especially with Moses Simon out to the left.
The pharaoh could not live with them.
Salah, Africa’s best player, was strangled and had only one real chance to score, a victory of tactical quality.
“Salah is one of the best players in the world,” said Eguavoen. “Tactics is not a specific marker, but we have instructed the players to get close to him at all times and have a second player behind the marker.”
Eguavoen answered all the questions Rohr’s critics asked about the Germans. His team played with energy, his tactics matched and he made an immediate substitution.
If there’s any criticism of the Nigerian’s play, it’s the extent to which the substitutions drop – since Sadiq Umar, who has replaced? Taiwan Awoniyi, unable to hold the ball, and Chidera Ejuke miss the chance to finish the game. Eguavoen is undisturbed.
“We know the strength of the players, we know Ejuke plays well from the left, but can’t replace Simon. [so we put Ejuke on the right],” he said.
“It was a change of tactics and Ejuke had a chance to end the game. For Umar, perhaps for the first time being stressed in such a big stage, he gave me some excuses after the game. fight and we’ll talk to him later.”
All told, this is not only a good day at the office for the Super Eagles, but a great day for Nigerians at home. It might just be a game, but sometimes that’s all it takes to turn things around.
