SAI’D MAKES A STATEMENT, AND GOLDEN EAGLES SHOW SPIRIT, AGAIN

THREE FOR THE WIN! Hattrick hero Ibrahim Sai'd shows how many goals he scored

Hattrick hero Ibrahim Sai’d willl claim the lion share of the plaudits, but it was another gutsy, unyielding team performance that carried Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets over the line as they came from behind to stun Ecuador 3-2 and advance to the 2019 FIFA Under 17 World Cup quarterfinals.

Sai’d pounced on a goalkeeping error from Lopez to open the scoring after just five minutes. That was also how much time it took Ecuador to draw level, Mejia’s shot helped in off goalkeeper Daniel Jinadu’s back.

Mina despatched a dodgy penalty to put Ecuador in front nine minutes into the second half before the Golden Eaglets blitzed the last 10 minutes to claim a stupendous win and book their place in the knockout phase.

We have a few takeaways from the win

GUTS AND GLORY

It has been a wee while since Nigerians have seen a team so determined not to lay down and die.

For the second game in a row, the Eaglets came back from 2-1 down to win. As good as the scoreline was, what was even more remarkable was the spirit they showed.

Whether ahead or behind, the team played with guts and with fire in their bellies. They were simply determined not to lose. Not against Hungary on opening day, not against Ecuador on the night. And both teams looked both tactically and technically superior.

But the Nigerians showed more heart, more spirit and certainly more lungs. Even at the end, they were still swarming all over Ecuador and were it not for poor finishing, they would surely have run up the score.

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ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK

Nigerians have been weaned on attacking football. The great Green Eagles team which won the Africa Cup of Nations were loaded with attacking talent and played with expansive verve.

The 1994 team wrote themselves into folklore in much the same way. And the best of Nigeria’s cadet teams - including all previous five Under 17 championship winning teams - all played in much the same way.

This side are not nearly as talented as their predecessors, and there are quite a few holes to be picked in their game, but they do a good job of covering these holes with their unrelenting forward blitz.

The good news is they create a boatload of chances. The bad news is they need barn doors in front of them.

Akinwunmi Amos is a wrecking ball, captain Samson Tijani is a offensive controller and Said just showed how lethal he can be from range. Not to mention Wisdom Ubani and his set piece expertise.

There will be goals with this team, the trouble is. . .

DEFENSIVE WEAKNESSES

There are weaknesses all over the team, and it starts well before the ball gets to defense. Against Ecuador, as in against Hungary, the biggest problem was before the ball got to defense. 

Players, especially in midfield, were in some sort of mad hurry to play balls. And for all of Garba’s emphasis on passing football, sometimes, players’ decision to go alone turned out ill-advised. All of this led to more than their fair share of turnovers. 

But the worst part was the after. Manu Garba needs to drill some basic idea of timing into his players until it becomes muscle memory. The amount of seemingly aimless running and mistimed tackles were simply insane.

It led to goals against Hungary and again against Ecuador.

A more tactically disciplined side would leather these lads if allowed such freedom of the shop.

Hopefully, they plug the holes sooner rather than later.

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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.

ZONAL MARKING FAILURES AND OTHER TAKEAWAYS FROM NORWAY’S LASHING OF SUPER FALCONS

Norway handed Nigeria a 17th Women’s World Cup LOS on the back of three quickfire first half goals on Saturday.

Guro Reiten scored in the 17th minute as the Super Falcons failed to deal with a corner kick, and Lisa-Marie Utland made it two 17 minutes later when she flashed a fierce shot past goalkeeper Tochukwu Oluehi from close range.

The African champions were overwhelmed in the encounter and this showed as defender Osinachi Ohale put the ball into her own net in an attempt to steer the ball away as the Scandinavians again threatened from the left side of the Nigerian defence.

Asisat Oshoala rounded the goalkeeper late in the second half but with no support, skewed her shot into the side netting.

Here are some takeaways from the game

ZONAL MARKING DOESN'T WORK

First, let’s get the obvious out of the way. Whoever told Thomas Dennerby to plump for zonal marking at cornerkicks needs to un-tell him.

It is a difficult tactical plan to execute even under the best of circumstances, and with players who have spent months coming to grips with it. Our girls simply did not look not equipped to do the thinking on the fly that comes with trying to deal with that approach and it showed in the first goal.

Because everyone was so focused on staying in their zones, no one stepped up to challenge the short corner kick. By the time they realized the danger, it was too late and a crowded box makes for some unpleasant outcomes, as it happened.

They didn’t give up anything, at least not much in the second half, but it was still touch and go. And against France, who have the tallest defender in the tournament, that would be courting disaster.

It can’t be too far fetched to imagine the French looking at the game and rubbing their hands in glee.

BASICS LACKING

With that said, it is easier to list to a serial criminal’s rap sheet than the amount of things wrong with the Super Falcons play, especially in that first half.

Their passing was so tawdry, one can count how many times they completed three passes in a row on one hand.

Their touch, for the most part was about as good as Godzilla trying to control a felele ball. And they kept turning the ball over, especially in dangerous areas because they could not live with the high press from the Norwegians. When they did get forward, service to Desire Oparanozie and Asisat Oshoala was criminally inadequate. As for the crossed balls, the least said about those the better. 

Leaves one wondering what exactly Dennerby was working on all those days in training camp.

Admittedly, the basics should not be taught at national camp, but at least dealing with pressing is as much tactical as foundational. And delivering decent crossed balls should not be rocket science?

Dennerby has a lot of work to do. It is doubtful if a few days will be enough to resolve them. The good news however, must be that second half performance, which provided both positive and negative takeaways. 

On the one hand, restricting Norway to virtually nothing in 45 minutes is a good look. On the flip side, the fact that failed to create anything of note of their own is a monumental worry.

INDIVIDUAL ERRORS

As much as the coach needs to take the blame for much of the issues that afflicted the team, the players also have to take responsibility. They committed kindergarten errors all over the park. Faith Michael was too easily beaten for the cornerkick leading to the first goal. A failure to track back and contest balls, not to mention defenders being hopelessly out of position led to the second and Tochi Oluehi’s poor clearout to the opposition saw the ball come back to her for the third goal.

The midfield of Rita Chikwelu and Ngozi Okobi practically ghosted their way through the entire game and just could not maintain possession. Michael had to be subbed off injured after her second collision with goalkeeper Oluehi. That was just horribly poor positioning and lack of communication. And her replacement, the youngster Okeke could defend, but her passing was all o er the place. Francisca Ordega towered over everyone else in effort and application. But she was a lone wolf. Dennerby has a lot of work to do to fix his squad.

BREAKDOWNS AND SCOUTING FAILURES: HOT TAKES FROM NIGERIA'S LOSS TO USA

Heading in vain. Valentine Ozornwafor's best efforts were not enough to stop Sebastian Soto/FIFA

Even as the Flying Eagles routed Qatar 4-0, the warning signs were clear and ominously present. The inexperienced Qatari moved better, passed the ball better, exploited openings better and carved the Nigerians open with ease that was at times embarrassing.

Their only drawback was the lack of efficiency in front of goal. It was clear that the Flying Eagles style would not survive much sterner scrutiny.

And the USA duly proved it on Monday. Here are three takeaways from the game.

SCOUTING FAILURE STARTS COLLAPSE

One of the most important things a coach does going into a game is prepare for the opposition by scouting them to the minutiae. Especially for a tournament where the draws had been made in advance.

Failing that however, the next best thing is to use the opening five to 10 minutes to assess the opposition, how they defend, how they attack and what weaknesses there are to exploit.

The USA played soon after Nigeria’s game against Qatar. Paul Aigbogun and his team had plenty of time to study them. They obviously did not.

Ukraine’s tactics were to sit in a low block and exploit spaces left by the USA when they poured forward. It worked. Aigbogun chose to start with a high press, which left yawning gaps all over the field. It was a gift the Americans were only too glad to accept as they calmly played their way out of trouble, and then pinned the Nigerians to their half, putting particular pressure on the fullbacks who had been the major attacking outlets against Qatar.

Aigbogun failed to react, failed to shut down the spaces as his team attempted to go on a passing toe to toe against a side as well-drilled as the US. The failure was spectacular. At one point during the first half, possession was 66% to the US.

In fairness to the Flying Eagles coach he made an adjustment within half an hour, hooking Tom Dele-Bashiru after a shocking error-strewn play. The Manchester City youngster was hooked for Aniekeme Okon, who brought energy and stability into the midfield.

At least we can’t say Aigbogun doesn’t know when to make a change.

NO BASICS

Aigbogun may have been quick to react, but he was also hampered by the tools he had. His players lack of basics was painfully accentuated by the technical ability and near-scripted execution of USA. 

They passed with crisp fitness, moved economically, exploited space and switched play almost telepathically. Their choreography left the Nigerians running around chasing their own tails.

When they did get possession, their touches were so heavy they could barely string three passes together before turning the ball over. Individual breakdowns littered the pitch.

Players appeared determined to forget that football is a team game, preferring to run into two or three-man cul de sacs when it was easier and more effective to pass their way out of trouble. 

The second goal was of such embarrassing simplicity it cold only be compared to a chess player falling for Scholar’s mate, an elementary checkmate in four moves. Four US players were involved, starting with the goalkeeper as they ran the length of the pitch without a single Nigerian player tracking within yards!

Thursday is not so far away, but Aigbogun needs to sort these out. Fast.

OKAY, THERE WERE SOME POSITIVES. . .

For all the hysterics that attended the game - and yes, said hysterics were justified - it wasn’t all doom and gloom.

There were a still positives to glean from the defeat. For one, the players did not roll over. Once the coach made the small but significant tweak of bringing on Okon, the midfield stabilised, Kingsley Michael became more influential and the Flying Eagles gradually wrested control. Oh, and they started passing the ball too! Shocker!

This proves that this team can ball, if they set their mind to it and have the right tactics and selection.

Success Makanjuola surely must have done enough over two games to have eared himself a starters shirt over Okechukwu Offia. And impressive as Tom Dele-Bashiru was in the first game, Aniekeme Okon’s energy, passing and vocal authority may just have nicked him a shirt for the next game 

Beyond personnel, Aigbogun needs to lay down the law on at least two things. First, players must stay tight and tackle to win and keep the ball. Two, they must look to release the ball as quickly as possible keep passes over 10 feet to the barest minimum. In other works, play as a friggin team!

Not a bunch of Messi-photocopies from a decommissioned copier