QUICK TAKEOUTS FROM GOLDEN EAGLETS WIN OVER HUNGARY

Golden Eaglets lineup ahead of their opening game against Hungary

Heart and guts overcame an error-ridden performance by Nigeria, as the Golden Eaglets opened their FIFA Under 17 World Cup campaign with a come from behind win over Hungary on Saturday night.

Hungary poked the tiger within three minutes of the opening, their early pressure forcing Nigeria on the backfoot and Gyorgy Komaromi found himself in good position to draw first blood after just three minutes.

Captain Samson Tijani drew the Golden Eaglets level from the sport after Wisdom Ubani’s nifty footwork got him into the box only to be clipped. Samuel Major took advantage of further sloppy defending by Nigeria to restore Hungary’s advantage as they went into the break on top. 

But three late goals, two of those in the span of a minute, took Nigeria to victory.

Here are a few thoughts from the game

EAGLES AND EARLY PRESSURE DON’T MIX

It was obvious that Hungary had watched tapes of the Nigeria team ahead of the game, and looked to exploit the weaknesses early. They peppered the fullback positions and scored both their goals from high, early pressure that the Nigerians found difficult to deal with.

Although they failed to keep up the momentum, bombarded as they were any Nigeria’s physical superiority and skill, their technical ability meant they did not have to overly exert themselves in a first half where they allowed the Eaglets to do all the running while they simply sat back and picked them off almost at will.

This is by no means the most talented squad Manu Garba has put together in his time as a youth coach, so there will be lot more work needed to help them along the way, That means studying film of the opposition ahead of and fixing his own team’s weaknesses.

One of those is dealing with the press. They did not handle it well against Hungary and need to work on it going forward.

PLENTY OF HEART TO GO AROUND THESE EAGLETS 

To watch the first few minutes of the game, it looked like this iteration of Golden Eaglets were among the most disjointed ever.

Their passes continually went astray, touches looked heavy and the players appeared to be in a constant hurry to get nowhere fast. The calmness of the position made their haste even more glaring.

But the one thing the young men had more than enough of and then some, was heart. Even when they went down twice, their heads did not drop. They played with fire and the boisterousness of their youth. And even at the end, still had plenty of running in them as they overwhelmed Hungary by sheer force of character.

Heart and lungs are great traits to have, especially in the group phase. But they will need more than that if they are to go all the way.

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TIJANI IS A GEM, AMOO TOO

There was a lot that went wrong with the Golden Eagles on the night, and that includes players who did not pull their weight.

And the less said about the walkabout defense th ebetter.

But none of that could be said about man of the match and captain Samson Tijani. In the midst of the blundering chaos, he was the one calming influence. Everything the Nigerians played went through him, and it was when he had the ball that the team looked even slightly composed.

His two goals were just reward for the effort he put in.

And then there was Akinwunmi Amoo. It is uncertain why Garba decided to start him from the bench. It could have been for tactical reasons. But when he came on, he showed that he belongs on the starting eleven.

It is hard to see him starting on the bench now after coming on and totally changing the complexion of the Nigeria team.

ROHR: FIRST HALF AGAINST UKRAINE BEST OF MY TENURE

Gernot Rohr says Nigeria’s first half performance against Ukraine was the best the team has played since he took over as Nigeria coach.

The Super Eagles completely dominated the hosts, racing to a two-goal lead and should have been at least four goals up in the first half but for some great goalkeeping and wayward finishing.

But their performance in those first 45 minutes had Rohr buzzing

“It was a great performance against a very good team,” he said. “The best initial 45 minutes I saw since I am with the team.” 

Despite their dominance, the Super EAgles, playing without a posse of key starters, were to conceded twice late on and tie the game. Rohr pointed to the youthfulness off his side and explained that that may have been responsible for their giving up their two-goal advantage late in the second half

“Age average less than 23. That fact can also explain two minutes of nerves in the second half. And their second goal was clear handball.”

Rohr however was left pleased with the overall direction of the team 

“We saw some new faces and a come back of the goal keeper. The kind of modern football we played is promising for the future.”

IGHALO NOT REVERSING RETIREMENT

Nigeria forward Odion Ighalo says he is standing by his decision to retire from international football despite an attempt by NFF President Amaju Pinnick to persuade him to change his mind.

Ighalo finished as both 2019 Afcon qualifying top scorer with 7 goals and tournament top scorer with five, helping Nigeria beat Tunisia 1-0 to claim bronze on Wednesday night, and then announced his retirement soon after.

On Saturday, leading African journalist Osasu Obayuwana reported that NFF President Amaju Pinnick had informed him that the striker had reversed his decision. But Ighalo said that was not the case

“It is not true that I have reversed my decision,” Ighalo told ColinUdoh.com exclusively on Sunday morning. “The (NFF) president spoke to me and asked me to reconsider. Out of respect for him, I said I would think about it. I consulted with my family and we decided that the best thing for me now is to stand by the decision.

“I love my country and it was not an easy decision to make. But I believe the time is right. I am now out for eight weeks and my club are not happy about it, but I thank God for everything.”

Ighalo, something of a late bloomer, made his senior debut for Nigeria in 2015 as the Super Eagles lost 0-1 to Uganda in a friendly.

He finished with 35 appearances for Nigeria, scoring 16 goals, an average of just under a goal a game. 

LIVE: ALGERIA V NIGERIA. ALL THE BUILDUP TO THE BIG GAME

Super Eagles

8:58 National anthems are done, so are pre match formalities. And so I say, thank you for staying with me
Enjoy the game!

8:40 Warm ups are done. Teams have headed back into the dressing room. Algeria players got huge cheers when their lineup was read out. The Nigerians, apart from Ahmed Musa, barely got anything

8:10 The teams are coming out for the warmups now. First Algeria, then Nigeria. Alloy Agu, the Super Eagles goalkeeper trainer gives a big wave to the Nigeria fans in the stands and they respond with a huge cheer
The Super Eagles emerge from the tunnel to a big cheer. But the Algerians get an even bigger one. They have way more fans in the stands. They are the home team on paper. And it’s the same on the stands

7:30 The teams have arrived in the stadium

6:40 The Super Eagles have left their hotel and are on their way to the stadium.
For the superstitious amongst us, they will play today in their green away jersey. Make of that what you will

6:20 Dr Wiebe Boer is supporting the Super Eagles all the way from Trinidad and Tobago with his jersey on. Where are you supporting from?

And Gernot Rohr is naming an unchanged lineup from the one which beat South Africa in the last game. Do you like it?

6:11 Time for the ball kids to do their rehearsals

5:50 it’s just over three hours to the game. There are more media folks at the stadium than fans

4:00 Media folks are very upset. Their entrance gate was changed with no prior information. Now, journalists have to walk over half an hour, some lugging heavy equipment, to get to the Media Centre. In this heat! There are some very sweaty, sun-burned, angry people about

3:40 Time to stop and get some Papa John’s Chicken Wings before departure to the stadium 

3:00 In case you hadn’t heard, the Algerian military offered 6 military planes to airlift fans to Cairo for the game. This is in addition to the thousands who will be making the trip via chartered Air Algerie flights. Looks like Nigeria fans will be outnumbered. But will they be out-sung?

2:30PM One thing that has been very noticeable is that the Super Eagles players have been off social networks since last night. Only one player - and I won’t say who - updated his Snapchat late last night and that was just listening to music.
On WhatsApp, there has been no status updates. 

2PM An early picture of the stadium and this is what it looks like. No indication of the din and bedlam that is just hours away now

1PM: As is to be expected for a game that is now 8 hours away, everywhere is quiet but we will bring you some pictures from Nigeria training on Saturday

Super Eagles training at the Aero Sports Complex in Cairo on Saturday afternoon

It is semifinal day at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, and Nigeria’s Super Eagle go up against Algeria’s Fennecs in what should be a battle for the ages. 

A budding Nigeria side who have already despatched Cameroon and made light work of South Africa, now face arguably their biggest test of the tournament so far, a resurgent, organized and very disciplined Algeria side who are yet to taste defeat and conceded only their first goal of the tournament against Cote d’Ivoire in the quarterfinals.

The winners, of course, will play for the big prize. Nigeria are seeking a fourth title. Algeria, only their second. Both sides won their first ever titles against each other. Nigeria beating Algeria 3-0 in Lagos to claim their first win in 1980, and the Algerians returning the favour in 1994 via a 1-0 win in Algiers.

Recenteetings have gone the way of the Super Eagles, who have six wins from their last eight meetings.

Kickoff is at 8PM Nigeria time from the Cairo International Stadium. But we will have over eight hours of buildup here on ColinUdoh.com so feel free to chirp in on Twitter (see what I did there), Facebook and Instagram.

So away we go, then.

YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! BELMADI RILED BY NIGERIA JOURNALIST IN BENSEBAINI SELF-SLAP QUERY IN BUILD UP TO NIGERIA MATCH UP

Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi

It was perhaps the first press conference involving Nigeria at this Africa Cup of Nations where the pre-match vibe quickly turned adversarial. Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi took exception to being asked by Nigerian journalist Chisom Mbonu if he condoned the behavior of his player Ramy Bensebaini, who tried to get Wilfred Zaha sent off, by grabbing the Ivorien’s arm, using it to slap his own face then going down theatrically.

"I'm not really sure this is the place to talk about this," was his response. ”If you try to put pressure on us, it is not the right way. There is a referee for that and VAR for that and it's not your job to talk about this.”

Algerian journalists at the pre-match press conference broke out in applause.

Belmadi subsequently fielded soft ball questions from the Algerian media, but his hackles were already up and the coach finished the rest of the event unsmiling.

If that answer was an attempt to deflect attention away from the Algerians’ penchant for the dark arts, it was not entirely successful as much of the pre-match reporting around the world has been focused on his refusal to answer the question.

This, inspite of Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr, who until then appeared unaware of the incident, trying to play down the incident

“We didn’t see that. We watched the tactical situations of the match, we continue to analyze the tactical things.”

But it definitely set the tone for Sunday’s game between these two old adversaries, who have met multiple times in both Africa Cup of Nations and in qualifying.

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The Super Eagles dominate their recent meetings, with six wins from eight confrontations. That is a record that riles the Algerians and one they are keen to flip, and join the team which won their sole title on home soil in 1990

"The one that we won was in 1990, a long time ago when it was at home. We've never won since. This is away from home, it's more difficult of course," said Belmadi.

"This is our target, we want to write our history and the players want to write their history as well. It's not far - two more steps, but two very difficult steps to this great achievement. We will try our best.”

For Rohr, who has been under some pressure from the start of the tournament, scaling his semifinal bar has taken a lot of that load off his shoulders, but defeat will still not be countenanced, as Nigeria set their sights on a fourth trophy.

Out of 24 have emerged four, and these two richly deserve their place. Hopefully, they will serve up a treat devoid of gamesmanship or worse, those aforementioned dark arts.

NIGERIA & ALGERIA AT SENIOR LEVEL

10 Jan 1973: Nigeria 2 Algeria 2 – Lagos (All-Africa Games)

28 July 1978: Algeria 1 Nigeria 0 – Algiers (All-Africa Games Final)

22 March 1980: Nigeria 3 Algeria 0 – Lagos (AFCON Final)

10 Oct 1981: Nigeria 0 Algeria 2 – Lagos (World Cup Qualifier)

30 Oct 1981: Algeria 2 Nigeria 1 – Constantine (World Cup Qualifier)

10 March 1982: Algeria 2 Nigeria 1 – Benghazi (AFCON)

11 March 1984: Algeria 0 Nigeria 0 – Bouake (AFCON)

15 Jan 1988: Algeria 1 Nigeria 0 – Annaba (Olympics Qualifier)

30 Jan 1988: Nigeria 2 Algeria 0 – Enugu (Olympics Qualifier)

23 March 1988: Algeria 1 Nigeria 1 – Rabat (AFCON semi, 8-9 penalties)

2 March 1990: Algeria 5 Nigeria 1 – Algiers (AFCON)

16 March 1990: Algeria 1 Nigeria 0 – Algiers (AFCON Final)

13 July 1993: Nigeria 4 Algeria 1 – Lagos (World Cup Qualifier)

8 Oct 1993: Algeria 1 Nigeria 1 – Algiers (World Cup Qualifier)

21 Jan 2002: Algeria 0 Nigeria 1 – Bamako (AFCON)

3 July 2004: Nigeria 1 Algeria 0 – Abuja (World Cup Qualifier)

4 Sept 2005: Algeria 2 Nigeria 5 – Oran (World Cup Qualifier)

30 Jan 2010: Algeria 0 Nigeria 1 – Benguela (AFCON)

12 Nov 2016: Nigeria 3 Algeria 1 – Uyo (World Cup Qualifier)

11 Nov 2017: Algeria 1 Nigeria 1 – Constantine (World Cup Qualifier). Match later awarded 3-0 to Algeria as Nigeria fielded ineligible player. 

ROHR, BAXTER FIGHT FOR “UNDERDOG” TAG

Add caption

Stuart Baxter and then Gernot Rohr both opened their pre-match press conference in some accord. 

Both men were a few minutes late to the event and were quick to apologise and of course, blame Cairo traffic and the convoluted maze leading to the press centre.

That was as far as it went. Within the opening few questions, each man was at pains to disrobe himself of the toga of “favourite” as they looked ahead to Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations semifinal.

Baxter, unlike his usual brash self, seemed keen to not talk up his side or talk down the Nigerians, instead all but pointing to Rohr as playing mind games when asked about the Nigeria coach’s comment from the day before

“Nigeria have been a powerhouse of African football for a long time and one game doesn’t makes us favourites. 

I think he’ll love to have that tag as underdogs and in that way, slip the pressure from you guys but I don’t think he’s fooling anybody to tell you the truth

“We will go into the game as we do with every game. When we hit that balance between good organisation and still play with pace and closing people down with pace and using that natural mobility with technique, we can give anybody on this continent a good game. Therefore we go into every game knowing that we have a chance to win and a chance to lose

“And that is how we will approach this game. We will be respecting Nigeria but not fearing them

And we will absolutely not think that we are the favourites. We will have to produce a very good South African performance if we are to win this game.”

Rohr was having none of that 

“No, we don’t play this (mind) game,” he said. “We are realistic. We believe that we still have to improve. We had very difficult games. We lost against Madagascar, we suffered against Cameroon, made a lot of mistakes so we are realistic. South Africa played so well against Egypt and they have also the advantage that they know already this stadium and they had success here. We arrived yesterday from Alexandria, not so hot like here. All is different here.

“We have only one day to adapt but I think we will be ready.”

And then he threw in the uppercut

“Also they beat the favourites, the number one team. When you beat the favourites, you become the favourites.”

And then they found common ground again, admitting that it would be no walk in the park

“It will be a tough game,” said Rohr. “They did really well against Egypt and they are very fast.”

Baxter was just as complimentary

“Yes we have done very well against Nigeria recently. But we should be under no illusions that Nigeria are one of the best teams on the continent. It will be a massively difficult game for us and we have to get the mental strength right.”

Perhaps the highlight of the day was Baxter bristling when told to put his results over Nigeria in context, as the Super Eagles were weakened by injuries and suspensions on both occasions. And when they were not, his side needed help from the referee chalking off two good goals

“This is not about prestige for me,” he retorted. “It is about South Africa against Nigeria. Both coaches played to win, and the Nigeria coach played the best team he had available. I am sure he wanted to win. And in that game in Johannesburg, I had six players missing.”

Now, that was the real Baxter almost breaking through. The usual tough talking seemingly tempered by a desire not to give Nigeria any more motivation to want to win.

But favourites or underdogs, one team is certainly going home tomorrow.

BALOGUN: BEATING CAMEROON MAKES UP FOR MADAGASCAR LOSS

ROHR “SURPRISED” BY BAFANA PROGRESS

Gernot Rohr says he was surprised by South Africa’s progress at the expense of favorites and hosts Egypt, but believes that Bafana Banana have earned their passage.

The South Africans, unimpressive in group play and squeaking through to the round of 16 on the strength of one goal, stunned the hosts with resolute play and a back-breaking late goal from Lorch to eject the seven-time champions from the tournament.

They will now meet Nigeria in the semifinal, in a twist that Super Eagles coach Rohr said he did not see coming

“I am a little bit surprised, yes,” he told colinudoh.com soon after the result. “But they played so well against Egypt and they deserve it.

"They beat us in Uyo so we know it will not be easy against this good South African team. But also, we played a good draw in Johannesburg and we deserve to win because of the two goals off Musa but was cancelled even though it was not offside."

The two sides will meet for the third time under Gernot Rohr’s stewardship of the Eagles. The first ended in a 0-2 home loss for the German, who compounded the woes of his injury-depleted side by lining out youngsters.

But in the return fixture in Johannesburg, the South Africans were lucky to escape defeat when Nigeria had two goals disallowed. Replays showed that both were legitimate scores.

This third meeting is scheduled for July 10 at the Cairo International Stadium.

ETEBO EXCELS, IGHALO LEADS AS NIGERIA DESPATCH CAMEROON

Oghenekaro Etebo was again in excellent form as the Super Eagles rallied from surrendering an early lead to pull an epic comeback win over Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 on Saturday in Alexandria.

Odiomn Ighalo’s brace puts him on the board for high marks, but who else stood up to be counted on a night when heart was needed and heart was exactly what was on show?

AKPEYI 6

It is hard to put the blame at his doorstep for any of the two goals, especially the first. But we have been spoiled so rotten by the brilliance of Vincent Enyeama’s shot-stopping skills, that we expect our goalkeepers to triumph over strikers in one v ones. That said, he came up big when it mattered at the point when Cameroon were doing their best to batter down the door

AWAZIEM 7

His early going throw caused problems for Cameroon but he had a time of it trying to keep up with the ferocious pace of the duo of Christian Bassogog and Clinton N’Jie, who swapped positions at will and almost always seemed to be able to fly past him. Beaten by Bassogog to cross for Cameroon’s first goal. But he stuck to his task and by the latter stages of the game, he had found their number and his cross led to Ighalo’s second goal

AINA 6

After the highs of three great games, I guess he was due one not so great game. Struggled with his timing against the same duo for much of the first half and was outstripped an d swatted off the ball by N’Jie for the second goal. He had got them sussed out by the second half.

TROOST-EKONG 7

One of those days for him. Defended well overall, but his hurried clearances away - especially in the second half - always seemed to end up with the opposition, inviting further pressure. Won all his aerial battles and led from the back as the Super Eagles defended set pieces with relative ease

OMERUO 8

Immense performance from the centreback, again showing why his absence was such a miss against Madagascar. Had a few anxious moments, but overall, there are few adjectives to describe how immense his performance was. It simply had everything

NDIDI 8

A disciplined energetic performance from the Leicester man. His ability to read the play, be at the right place at the right time to close down passing lane and hunt down Eric Choupo-Moting helped the Eagles control the game for long periods

ETEBO 9

It is a high bar indeed to a perfect 10, but all Etebo needed here was to get a goal and he would have had it. A dynamo in midfield, his boundless energy, fearless tackling and ability to interrupt play is what kept the Super Eagles on the front foot.

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IWOBI 8

Started by launching a long ball to Awaziem straight from kickoff that caused all manner of chaos in the Cameroon area and forced a cornerkick. Then he went almost invisible before bursting to life in the second part o the game and finishing off with the winning goal.

SIMON 7

Took on players, caused problems with his pace and running and dropped back to help Awaziem with defending. Delivered the ball to Ighalo for the first goal.

MUSA 8

Endless running and hard work from the stand in captain. Involved in all three Nigeria goals. Won the free kick for the first goal, cushioned the ball with his chest to Ighalo for the second and intercepted the ball to find Ighalo for the set up to Iwobi for the winner. 

IGHALO 9

No arguing with two goals and one assist. It could even have been a hat trick but for a brilliant save from Onana when the Nigeria forward turned and shot from close range.

Hard to add anything to this performance. A true striker’s display, not to mention his constant attempts to ginger his teammates even before kickoff.

SUBS

CHUKWUEZE 6

On for Simon with an hour gone, his willingness to run, take players on and let fly from distance left the Cameroonians petrified and almost led too an Ighalo goal

ONUACHU 5

His brief was to keep the Cameroon defenders busy, win headers in both boxes and help see out the win. He lost the ball too many times, unfortunately.

BALOGUN 

Not enough time for a rating

DIFFERENT STROKES OF TENSION AND RELAXATION, AS NIGERIA AND CAMEROON FACE OFF IN TITANIC CONTEST

Gernot Rohr

Nigeria and Cameroon could not be any more different in outlook heading into Saturday’s titanic round of 16 clash at the Alexandria Stadium in Egypt.

Friday’s pre-match press conference represented a marked contrast in styles for both sides on the eve of the game.

Nigeria’s Gernot Rohr, doing his best to stay calm and jocular even as he admitted his job was on the line

“What I have heard is that even if we win the cup, my job is not safe,” he said with the slightest hint of a forced laugh.

Beside him was a serious William Troost-Ekong in a serious-visaged exhortation of his teammates “Any player who needs to be motivated for a game like this does not have the right mentality,” he said.

Contrast with the relaxed mien of Clarence Seedorf, who looked so relaxed as he fielded questions that Cameroon journalists were left bristling. 

“I was even more relaxed than this before I played in the Champions League Finals that I won,” he said in response to a very passionate-sounding Cameroonian journalist who seemed upset to see him so loose. “It is not about being too serious. But about having the right balance between focus and relaxation. We don’t have to remind the players because we have a very intelligent group of players here.”

Goalkeeper Andre Onana, taking a cue from his boss, sat next to him, chuckling and smiling his way through the press conference like an excited kid 

“I’m born ready,” he quipped, his eyes lighting up when asked about how prepared he was for the game.

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CRTV Journalist Njie Enow was not amused

“How can he be so relaxed. He is not being serious enough with the players and that concerns me and everyone other Cameroonian here.

“The former coach had a go at Christian Bassogog in public because he was not being serious and that helped him. But Seedorf is almost playing around.”

He would have been thrilled at Rohr’s approach then. The players were sequestered from media and fans in the two days leading up to the match. Rest time was strictly observed, and unlike in the days during the group stages, players were not even allowed to lounge around in the hotel.

One day was allowed for media interaction and interviews, but after that, it was closed house. Open training was restricted to two 15-minute sessions as the team focused on the task at hand.

Troost-Ekong acknowledged that Cameroon would be fired up for the game after their World Cup qualifying loss to Nigeria, but said that the Super Eagles were smarting from that giveaway loss to Madagascar and were looking to make amends

“Nobody was happy about that game. But we know that we have to make up for it in the next one and that is just what it is.”

One thing both teams have in common is their inability to score goals. Both coaches acknowledge the problems

“We have to create chances,” said Rohr. “We have good players who can score. But we have to put them in good position so they can score.”

Seedorf could have been copying from Rohr’s playbook

“It’s not so much about scoring but the things you do before. Our decisions in the last part o the field is something we need to improve. We need to continue as a team too try to create chances. We have the quality to score.”

Captain John Mikel Obi has been ruled out with injury and was seen at Friday’s training with his right need heavily strapped in ice. Shehu Abdullah is also not ready to return yet but Rohr said there was good news about left back Jamilu Collins

“He can play now, but I don’t know if he is ready to start.”

On a final note for Rohr, the lesson of humility that was handed down by Madagascar would play a key role in the approach to Saturday’s game

“It was a lesson of humility for the players, for the coaches and even for the fans too,” he said.

And for Seedorf, it is a game that could go either way

“We have to demonstrate that we are the better team and win. But if Nigeria prove to be the better team and win, we will congratulate them.”

FIVE SUPER EAGLES PLAYERS WHO STOOD OUT IN THE FIRST ROUND

Kenneth Omeruo has been outstanding so far for the Super Eagles in Egypt

So the Super Eagles bombed, badly, in their final group match against Madagascar. Old news. But one that will be talked about for a long time, especially if they do not beat Cameroon on Saturday and advance to the quarterfinals.

It was a bad time to lose, after a good start where they made two wins in two for the first time in 13 years. But all the talk since has been on the loss side, with most of the positives all but forgotten.

But there have been more than a few. Like how many players shone brightly in those games, even during that loss.

As we get ready to dive into the round of 16, let us take a look at the top five players who have excelled for Nigeria so far

KENNETH OMERUO

He played only those first two games, rested by Gernot Rohr for that flawed third, but by Jove, what a tournament he is having!

Actually, he started during the qualifiers. Omeruo has been imperious in defence, not only succeeding in breaking up the Oyibo Wall, but making himself just about the first choice in defence. 

And he has proved that he deserves it. The Leganes man missed a header against Burundi that was as close a shave as anyone could get. And then he guided in a header against Guinea for his first ever international goal.

It is a sign of how his form has ticked up that he can afford to go that high up the pitch and also play the ball out of defense with confidence.

If he keeps up this form, there is no telling how far the Super Eagles can go.

OLA AINA

Who can forget that assist? My word!

The dejavu-inspired goosebumps it brought as it threw back to the goal scored by Ben Iroha in 1994, also from a similar backheel. This time, from Austin Okocha. Aina must have been preening.

This is shaping up to be the tournament of breakout defenders for the Super Eagles. Left out of the Nigeria World Cup squad, Aina must have been relieved when he was finally named on the Nations Cup roster.

But even he did not expect to start with Shehu Abdullah the regular right back and Jamilu Collins the regular on the opposite flank.

But it would appear that the former Chelsea man was just waiting for an opportunity to come. Come it did when Collins picked up an injury and Aina was thrown in, he absolutely killed it. He was a monstrosity in the first game, looked great in the second, and even in the train wreck that was the third, was one of three players who come out smelling of roses. 

How Gernot Rohr will find a way to fit in Jamilu when he returns from injury is one headache the German will be happy to have.

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OGHENEKARO ETEBO

Nigeria’s own Energizer Bunny keeps showing exactly why he is such a valuable asset to this national team. Etebo brings energy, dynamism and the lungs of a horse to the midfield. He can play as both an attacking midfielder and and a defensive midfielder. And the team’s transition and pressing game - when they do press - pivots around him and his lung-bursting abilities.

Against Guinea, his destructive coverage of Naby Keita was key to disrupting the Guineans rhythm and against Madagascar, he did the job of three people in the midfield for the better part of the game.

Hard to find a more industrious worker in that squad.

AHMED MUSA

Musa’s quality has never been in doubt, neither has his devotion to the cause of battle. And with Nigeria struggling against Madagsacar, the assistant captain led by example. He ran himself ragged, chased after balls, swapped wings and even dropped deep to pick up balls when service was not forthcoming. It is a shame his efforts did not result in a goal.

But his attitude is always spot on and he can always be found in and around the goal area, threatening with his pace and looking dangerous with his efforts from both inside and outside the box.

Although he is yet to score - Ighalo’s decision to go for goal rather than square the ball to him a factor there - Musa remains has shone and shown that he will continue to be a potential decider for Nigeria going forward.

WILFRED NDIDI

If Etebo is the Energizer Bunny, Ndidi is the street-fighter in that midfield. Between them, they shut out two teams. Without them, the Super eagles midfield looked every bit as strong as rotting tomatoes.

Ndidi lets nothing get by him, and this tournament, has been even more aggressive in his tackling and interceptions.

As if that was not enough he has found himself venturing into the opposition box to create shooting opportunities, like he did in turning on a dime inside the Madagascar box and shooting at goal. A few millimeters left or right of goal and that would have been 2-1 with more than a healthy few minutes to play, which would have given the Super Eagles a chance at clawing back a draw.

These are our top five Super Eagles players from the group phase. Is there anyone that deserves to be here that is not? Let us know.

Next up will be the top three players who can make a difference against Cameroon and maybe even further.