Lowly –rated Madagascar shocked Nigeria 2-0 as an
awful performance by the Super Eagles handed the Indian Ocean islanders
leadership of Group B and condemned the three –time champions to ignominious
second place and a probable encounter with the Black Stars of Ghana in the
Round of 16.
In what would forever remain a day to forget in
Nigerian Football, the group leaders started on the wrong footing as Leon Balogun
failed to deal with a routine back pass, leading to the ball being snatched by
Lailana to score the first goal for the competition debutants after only 13
minutes.
The Eagles, who won each of their two previous
matches by the odd goal, showed a palpable lack of mental power to respond,
with Samuel Kalu fluffing a great pass by Ahmed Musa in the 19th
minute and Musa himself, left with the goalkeeper to beat as a pass found him
in the eighteen-yard box, bungled with a poor first touch, and his subsequent
attempt to dribble the goalkeeper failed.
In the second half, instead of working hard to get
on level terms in no time, Nigeria quickly found themselves further behind when
substitute Wilfred Ndidi deflected a free kick by Carolus Andrea past a
wrong-footed goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa.
A deep soul –searching is imminent in the Nigeria
camp after such a flat performance, against a team rated lower than 100th
in the world and making its first –ever appearance at the Africa Cup of
Nations.
First touches left the Eagles’ midfielders and
forwards down, as they made heavy weather of simple passes and controls, and
creativity was totally lacking in a team that earned a ticket to Egypt with a
match to spare.
Skipper Mikel John Obi, making his 89th
appearance for the Eagles, was a shadow of himself, but Alex Iwobi was no
magnificent difference when he came on, just as Moses Simon and Wilfred Ndidi
brought no spark or innovation on board when they were introduced.
Such a sound beating by a team that had never scored
against Nigeria in four pervious meetings was a dampener, and it would be
interesting to see how the Eagles overcome this adversity and put up a show in
their Round of 16 encounter at the same venue on Saturday.
While Madagascar finished the group stage unbeaten
and scored two lovely goals from dead-ball situations, the Super Eagles have
not been able to make hay from free kicks in decent memory, calling to question
the continued delegation of the responsibility to one man who has refused to perfect
his act. Three opportunities presented themselves from 20 yards and were all
wasted in nonchalant manner.
Coach Gernot Rohr, who rang five changes to the team
that defeated Guinea on Wednesday, must now come up with the formula to lift a
dispirited dressing room before Saturday.
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