Five things we learnt as Nigeria draw South Africa 1-1 to book AFCON 2019 ticket.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria managed a 1-1 draw away at South Africa to seal their qualification to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
These are five things we learnt from the game.
1. Iheanacho is rapidly regressing
Maybe it’s an exaggeration, but Kelechi Iheanacho is playing at his worst at the moment. Against South Africa Iheanacho was awful.
Poor first touches, no positional awareness anymore, lack ideas with the ball and plays with a certain impreciseness. There is also this lack of urgency in his game to even placate his poor performance.
This is Iheanacho markedly different from the player that shone so well for the Golden Eaglets in 2013.
2. Jamilu Collins is not good enough
Super Eagles boss Gernot Rohr has tried to sell Collins as Super Eagles longtime solution to the left-back problem with Elderson Echiejile finally out of the picture but so far the defender has failed to justify his boss’s claims.
His performance against South Africa confirms that he is not good enough for the Super Eagles. He does nothing good required from a left back. Does not defend well neither does he attack in flying force down the left to make up for the former. He’s just a left-footer who has been trusted to do a job for the Super Eagles down the left.
But he can’t do the job and the search for Super Eagles left-back position continues.
3. Rohr secures another tournament ticket
It wasn’t a good performance from the Super Eagles but Rohr’s men did just enough to get a draw which guaranteed them a place in next year’s AFCON.
That’s the second consecutive tournament that Rohr has secured for Nigeria with a game to spare. After missing the last two AFCON editions, Rohr has brought the Super Eagles back among the African elites and despite continued doubts over his technical capacities, the German deserves some credits.
4. Samuel Kalu appreciation
Kalu has come into the Super Eagles and felt right at home. Against South Africa, he impressed again despite playing in an unfamiliar wing-back position.
With Ola Aina injured, Rohr decided to go with Kalu who justified his coach’s decision by engineering Nigeria’s only goal of the game. A minute later, he was in the Super Eagles, sliding to make an important block which prevented a South African goal. That summed up his performance of the day and kudos to him.
5. Super Eagles defence a huge worry
Nigeria's best three central defenders were in action in a three-man defence system against South Africa, yet they showed so much sweat than comfort. The way the South Africans got past Super Eagles central defenders is confirmation that the defence need more work.
Leon Balogun can be excused for lacking match fitness but the lack of cohesiveness between Kenneth Omeruo and William Troost-Ekong is a big worry.