By Tolu Atobatele
The Super Eagles of Nigeria once again flattered to deceive as they were pegged down 1-1 by yet another minow to finish the first round of the Qatar 2022 World cup qualifying series with indifference performances.
In a group comprising Liberia, Cape Verde and Central African Republic (CAR), many footballers fans had envisage a easy cruise to the next passage for Super Eagles until the team capitulate to CAR in front of home fans in Lagos, losing 1- 0 and end the 40years world cup qualifiers unbeaten run.
However, the team redeemed their image few days later beating CAR in the corresponding fixture. Although the game was played in the adopted home ground of the Central African Republic’s in Cameroon prompting some people to contemplate the possibility of Eagles winning the contest had it been played in CAR.
The retrogression of Super Eagles performance continues till the last day of the group matches as Super Eagles struggled and put in another lacklusterous shift against Cape Verde who also are vying to win the group with a win in Lagos.
Nigeria may have qualified for the next round of the qualifying series but the underlying factor point at the tactical ineptitude of the team’s technical crew. It’s no brainier to say the team possessed one of the best players on the continent. The likes of Osimhen, Onuachu, Ejuke, Moses Simone, Joe Aribo have been a star performer in their respective clubs but the replication of club’s form in the national team is such difficult that you wonder if these are the same players on parade in their clubs.
Nigeria lost 2-0 to Madagascar during the last AFCON in Egypt 2019, surrendered 4 goals to draw 4-4 against Sierra Leone in Benin during the 2022 AFCON qualifiers, and with the recent uninspiring performances against CAR and Cape Verde the big question on the lips of football fans is if the Super Eagles will able to cross the final hurdle of the last round of the world cup qualifiers where the likes of Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Mali, Cameroon, Ghana etc are also in the mixer?
Over to you Gernot Rohr!
Sport Angle Int'l- SAI SPORTS 