FEATURE ARTICLE

Tuesday, October 22, 2019
[email protected]
Belgium
SUPER EAGLES OF NIGERIA WIN THEIR 2021 NATIONS' CUP QUALIFIER AGAINST THE REPUBLIC OF BENIN!

"Victory nowadays in soccer, generally, don't happen through accidental/ coincidental happenstance, but through carefully articulated plans/policies, that are first of all made in the boardroom of the FA; before that can be translated through the coaches to the players on the soccer pitch." - Cyril C. Nwokeji

"The Super Eagles of Nigeria, have a bright future and can realise their immediate and long term ambitions, given the correct developmental environment." -Cyril C. Nwokeji

"The retention of Coach Gernot Rohr, at least till 2022, is a conditio sine qua non for the Super Eagles of Nigeria to take the soccer world by storm, at the Qatar 2022 World cup competition." -Cyril C. Nwokeji

he score of 2-1 was not fantastic by way of margin of victory against the Squirrels of Benin; but nonetheless the Super Eagles of Nigeria were efficient enough to win the 2021 Nations' cup opener and the concomitant three points! It was victory achieved despite certain odds: having to play with just one full training session!; And not having all Super Eagles players in tip top condition, no thanks to jet lag and other limiting circumstantial factors!

The Super Eagles, certainly in the opening stanza, didn't play their best match. They even fell behind, no thanks to some sloopy defending, and an apparently not very alert goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi. They subsequently reacted well, taking the game to the Benenoise; dictating the pace, and exploiting the fullest extent of their technical superiority.

The suddenly 'besieged' Benenois players, had to resort to some "un-orthodox" tactics in order to survive. One of which resulted in the penalty kick, expertly converted by Victor Osinmen, after the brilliant Ola Aina was fouled in the opponents' vital area.

The technical/ tactical superiority of the Super Eagles continued in the second half and the Benenoise players were certainly overwhelmed by a Super Eagles' mid-field that showed a lot of deep-sited technical / tactical depth more or else as a consequence of the deep-playing Joe Aribo. Whose inclusion in the Super Eagles' mid-field organisation has resulted in the "re-definition" of the Super Eagles' mid-field, from a conservative mid-field, with two defensive and one offensive mid-fielders, to a more pro-active and dynamic mid-field, with one defensive and two offensive mid-fielders! And of course with the needed mobility to ensure that the defensive organisation was not in any way compromised!

The Super Eagles deservedly got a second goal, mainly as a consequence of the technical ability of the "Adventurous" Samuel Kalu, who thanks to his superb intrinsic technical ability, created and scored the goal, all by himself. It was certainly not one of some piece of "opportunism", but one of some superb technical quality; a piece of technical master play/ artistry, by a highly talented player!

However, the Super Eagles showed some defensive frailties, from the left side of defence! The Benenoise capitalised on this to trouble the Super Eagles defence. One expects improvements in this aspect of the Super Eagles' defensive organisation in the next match against Lesotho!

The Super Eagles players generally played well. One however expects better performance against Lesotho, with more training sessions together and of course the deserved rest period.

In conclusion, the Super Eagles are certainly on an upward march, with regards performance, since the 2019 Nations' cup outing! The team continues to improve and gives us hope of better days ahead! This among other factors is the reason yours sincerely like most Nigerians believe Coach Rohr, is the right man to coach the Super Eagles at least till 2022!

UP SUPER EAGLES ! UP NIGERIA!!!!!!

Also at the link below, one can come into contact with a number of items, needed to support the Super Eagles at "Cameroun 2021" !!!!!

https://teespring.com/stores/super-eagles-of-nigeria

The book "Super Eagles of Nigeria : Pride of Africa", can also be gotten through the author. One can contact the author through : [email protected] Please note in this case, payment of postage costs will be necessary

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