very big congratulations to the Super Eagles of Nigeria for pulling the chestnut out of the fire and qualifying for " Morocco 2025" with two matches to spare; and, eventually, as group's winners!

They pulled the chestnut out of the fire because at the beginning of the AFCON 2025 qualifying series, not many Nigerians gave them a chance of success, considering their then poor run of form. The most conspicuous of which was the disgraceful 2-1 loss to Republic of Benin, in June, 2024, in the 2026 World cup qualifiers, in Abidjan!

In addition to the failure of the NFF to appoint a substantive foreign coach for the team as promised, (a scenario which persists till this day) , all conspired to make some Nigerians lose hope in the Super Eagles ability to deliver the AFCON 2025 ticket.

However, reality is that the interim Coach Augustine Eguavoen - led technical crew have against all odds delivered on the set objective! And for this fact, deserve our collective respects and appreciations. A big thank you to them! And also thank you to the NFF ; and to the Federal government for their usual financial patronage!

The Super Eagles confronted Republic of Benin on 'home' soil, in Abidjan, in the penultimate qualifying match of AFCON 2025; and yours sincerely saw the match thus:

The Super Eagles lined-up in a 3-4-3 formation :

Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali was in goal. He had a decent match, save for the blunder that resulted in the first goal to the opponents. Though he cannot be blamed entirely for that blunder. The elements also conspired to make life difficult for him, more especially in this context. The slippery nature of the ball occassioned by the rainy weather certainly wasn't to his advantage.

The internet adventurers who have been having a field day raining insults on goalkeeper Nwabali, should please go to sleep. Even the best goalkeepers on the planet, even at the best of times, sometimes, commit blunders. A goalkeeper is deemed not good enough if the blunders become a constant feature of his stewardship between the sticks.

Yours sincerely is certain Coach Eguavoen, as an experienced coach, still reposes confidence in goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, as Nigeria's number one goalkeeper, notwithstanding what happened in the match against Benin Republic.

The three central defenders were:

Debutant Gabriel Osho - righthalf back ; he did well. But was unfortunately sacrificed as a consequence of Coach Eguavoen's tactical switch to 4-3-3, in the second half of the match.

Skipper William Troost-Ekong, at centre-halfback, did well and marshalled the defence well. Although the defence showed weaknesses on two occassions when Republic of Benin could have scored!

Calvin Bassey, at left-half back, was good.

The right-sided wingback, or inverted rightfull back, Ola Aina , didn't have a wonderful game, apparently occassioned by tiredness; no thanks to a loaded club engagement.

The left wingback, Bruno Onyemaechi, was good.

The double-decker central mid-field in this peculiar formation, had Wilfred Ndidi, as the defensive partner and Alex Iwobi, as the offensive/creative half. They held stand in mid-field, as Nigeria had the greater ball possesion; but creativity was a problem, more especially, in the face of the stuggy-defending opponents.

The wingers were: Ademola Lookman , he had a decent game and Kelechi Iheanacho, who showed some nice flashes, during the first twenty minutes of the game; and faded afterwards.

Victor Oshimhen was the centre-forward, and justified his billing by scoring the equaliser for Nigeria! He could have done more damage to the opponents with better creativity in the middle of the pack.

The substitutes:

At the beginning of the second half, with Nigeria one goal down, Coach Eguavoen, changed his formation from 3-4-3 to a more adventurous 4-3-3 formation. As a consequence, Gabriel Osho was sacrificed and Raphael Onyedika, a defensive mid-fielder, was brought in his place, to complement Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi in mid-field. He performance was ok.

Winger Moses Simon, replaced Kelechi Iheanacho on the wings, and had a decent game. He gave the assist that resulted in the equalising goal by Victor Osimhen!

Bright Osayi-Samuel, replaced Ola Aina at right-back. And held stand for the duration of his engagement on the field of play.

Victor Boniface, replaced Alex Iwobi, as Coach Eguavoen, in search of the equaliser, further changed the Super Eagles' formation to a more offensive-oriented 4-2-4 formation.

And Frank Onyeaka replaced Ademole Lookman, as Coach Eguavoen reveted once more to a comparatively more conservative 4-3-3 formation after Nigeria got the equaliser.

Conclusion:

A critical look at Coach Eguavoen's choice of players in mid-field, even when he decided to be more offensive in his approach to the game, at the beginning of the second half, with Nigeria one goal down, in a 4-3-3 setting, revealed a certain measure of "conservatism" !

He brought in Raphael Onyedika, a defensive mid-fielder to complement Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi, in mid-field. Since the Super Eagles had problems with creativity in mid-field, notwithstanding dominating possession, one would have expected Coach Eguavoen to have brought in Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, a creative mid-fielder to complement Alex Iwobi, in this very aspect of the mid-field, where Nigeria was lacking! This would have helped unlock the stuggy defensive style of Republic of Benin, and given the strikers the chance to make hay! This was not the case, as he brought in a defensive mid-fielder, who could not help in bringing about the needed creativity. Thus, the Super Eagles struggled till Victor Osimhen scored from Simon Moses' assist.

However, one must complement Coach Eguavoen for reacting well and quickly with the necessary tactical switch and players' substitutions, in the match against Republic of Benin; more especially, at the beginning of the second half. This is certainly an improvement in comparison with his performance in the game against Libya, a few weeks ago. Also, Coach Eguavoen's match-reading ability has improved in comparison to two years ago.

One hopes the Super Eagles would round up the AFCON 2025 qualification series with a fantastic match and a beautiful victory against Rwanda, in Uyo, in what would be a quasi friendly match, given the reality in Nigeria's AFCON 2025 qualifying group.

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