Izuchukwu Okosi
Super Eagles home-based Super Eagles squad lost the first leg of their 2023 African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers against the Galaxies of Ghana at the Cape Coast stadium on Sunday evening.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelPrime Business Africa here presents the four takeaways from that setback.
1. Huge Task On Saturday In Return Leg
The 2-0 defeat to Ghana means that Salisu Yusuf and his boys must conjure victory at the Moshood Abiola stadium on Saturday.
A 2-0 win after 90 minutes forces the game to extra time but for the Eagles to book an automatic ticket to Algeria 2023 for the AFCON specifically for only players in tjelr domestic leagues, they must win by three clear goals.
This is a huge task considering that the Ghanaians are a very disciplined team with good ball players to boot.
Nigeria must score early on Saturday to put pressure on their guests.
2. Game Of Two Halves
Nigeria began the game in terrific shape and went close to scoring a could of times but there was no breakthrough in the first half.
However it as the Ghanaians who took the game to Nigeria in the second half and the counter attacking football Nigeria deployed on the first half was used by Ghana in the second half.
3. Blunt Attack
The Super Eagles lacked a lethal presence in attack and that certainly ruined any chances of scoring from the chances they created.
This must be worked on before Saturday’s return fixture.
4. Babatunde Bello Is A Rare Gem
The home based Super Eagles players have severally complained about negligence from national team selectors.
The lackluster performance against Ghana however puts a dent to the argument for the home based contingent.
However Akwa United’s midfielder Babatunde Bello was the only bright spot from a damming second half performance. He dictated pay in midfield and drew a couple of fouls and yellow cards for the Ghanaians.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
