Nigeria controlled and dominated against Guinea-Bissau as expected, but the odds to win was tipped as the minnows grabbed a 30th minute lead and saw out a hard-won victory at the MKO Abiola Stadium on Friday, in their first-leg Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The Super Eagles created chances and could have easily scored a bucket load, but the attack was blunt, creativity wasn’t too notch and in the defensive phase, there was an evident problem , which Guinea-Bissau eventually exploited.
So, here’s our rating of each Super Eagles Player’s performance:
Uzoho: 5
Didn’t get to make a significant save and also communicated poorly with his defenders.
Akpoguma: 5.5
He was physical, throwing his body into challenges, but he was caught off guard by the Forwards on several occasions. Reaction was slow and awareness poor leading up to Guinea-Bissau’s goal.
Bassey: 5
Didn’t impress defensively; made the CB pairing really look like it was a patch up. His confidence weaned and he wasn’t consistent with his performance.Quite rigid positionally. The upside to his performance was the willingness to Advanced play up field.
Sanusi: 5
The LB was quiet for the better part of the match, but busy forward in the closing moments.
Osayi-Samuel: 5.5
His attacking play did not compliment his defensive duties. His poor recovery all game allowed for the LWF to explore the Right-back position.
Ndidi: 6
The DM lacked game time and though he struggled at some point in the game, he enjoyed spells as a box-to-box. Had his chance to score but fluffed it.
Iwobi: 6
Iwobi was the enforcer and though his creativity was evident, it was however limited by the defensive blocks.
Iheanacho: 5
He had a relatively quite game.
Chukwueze: 6
The RW was in the ball mostly, but his final balls often let him down. Was one of the biggest threats, but he failed in execution.
Lookman: 5.5
Appeared lively on the ball and his craftiness created openings. However the decision to take him off was unclear, though he had an ice pack on his knee afterwards on the bench.
Osimhen: 5.5
The forward was caught offside more times than he managed to get a shot on target. His work rate was good, but it didn’t match his output.
Onuachu: 6
Had a good moment when he could have pulled Nigeria level. He was also a good SS, putting his height to good use only the chances fell to no one.
Simon: 6
His runs were a problem for the Defence and he exploited the space on the left side better than Lookman. However he was also guilty of a big miss.
Onyeka: 6
Another player who entered the game not particularly sharp, but he created cover for the defence and was mobile. Made a last ditch clearance to foil a goalscoring opportunity.
Ajayi: 5.5
Replaced Akpoguma after the starter suffered a head injury. He didn’t have much to do, but was decent. Had a calamitous moment, but recovered well.
Musa: 5
Had quite little to do. Was dispossessed of the ball in a crucial moment in attacking transition.
