Tunisia stunned Nigeria with a 4-2 victory in the first leg of the African Cup of Nations and exposed their country’s deficiencies. They are confident they can continue this trend throughout the tournament, but will have to keep tabs on Egypt as well if they want to win it all.
Tunisia exposed Nigeria’s deficiencies in a stunning AFCON upset. The 3-2 victory saw Tunisia score twice as many goals as their opponents, who had been considered the favourites to win.
Outthought, outcoached, and outfoxed.
After seeing a depleted Tunisia create a shocking 1-0 upset to knock Nigeria out of the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday night in Garoua, it’s difficult not to use those words.
Nigeria, who have been in more AFCON semifinals than any other nation, has now failed to reach the last four for the first time since 2008, when they were knocked out in the quarterfinals of a 16-team competition by hosts Ghana.
Despite missing a third of their squad and their coach, the Carthage Eagles put up a valiant effort to stave off the rampaging Nigerians, going toe to toe with the Super Eagles until Youssef Msakni scored the game’s sole goal in the second half, beating Maduka Okoye from range.
– Africa Cup of Nations bracket and schedule of matches – Everything you need to know about the Africa Cup of Nations – AFCON kit rankings: Which team’s jersey is the best? – Don’t have access to ESPN? Get immediate access
The Nigerians, stunned, attempted to retaliate, and coach Augustine Eguavoen introduced the first of four substitutes, including Everton’s Alex Iwobi. However, the midfielder only lasted five minutes before being sent off for a risky tackle, jeopardizing Nigeria’s prospects of progressing and gifting Tunisia the victory.
It all came down to strategy and planning.
Despite their good success in the group stages, when they won three out of three, the Super Eagles were always vulnerable in the center, as Joseph Aribo’s freedom to roam meant Wilfred Ndidi was often the lone body covering the back four.
Despite their pace and cleverness out in the wide areas, where Moses Simon and Samuel Chukwueze posed a threat, Eguavoen’s team were susceptible in transitions. Tunisia took full use of this loophole.
As the Tunisians attempted to overload the midfield, Nigeria’s wide players were blunted by a double team, notably on Simon, and Ellyes Skhiri sliding into the defense negated Nigeria’s push.
The north Africans had clearly done their study.
At the post-match news conference, assistant coach Jalel Kadri observed, “We know Nigeria is extremely powerful and very speedy on the wings.” “We devised strategies today to put pressure on the Nigerian wingers, who are quite dangerous. We also know how terrible it is for them when they lose the ball.”
To Eguavoen’s credit, he reacted appropriately, bringing in Iwobi to give Nigeria more central control. With the red card, though, all of that was thrown out the window.
Alex Iwobi (unseen) of Nigeria was sent off in the 66th minute. AFP/DANIEL BELOUMOU OLOMO
Nigeria’s current problems, on the other hand, transcend beyond coaching.
Off-the-field distractions saw the players entertaining various guests, even at half-time of a game during the group stage.
A slew of Nigerian businesspeople and even government officials visited and spoke with the players, offering millions of Naira for each goal scored, among other incentives.
Promises of money in exchange for objectives have never materialized, either in terms of goals or outcomes. The Super Eagles were defeated in 2015 after a state governor guaranteed $5,000 for each goal scored against South Africa.
It has, however, been demonstrated to distract players who should be concentrating on playing and winning a football game. And there were far too many of them in this match.
A football match is won on the pitch at the end of the day, and the Super Eagles fell short on the night. And the failure occurred on the field as well as on the bench. The errors that contributed to the goal began at the back of the field and persisted as players backed away rather than closing in on Msakni.
On the other hand, Eguavoen’s daring approach did not seem to provide for a more cautious Plan B or C on the sidelines.
Eguavoen was previously chastised for being too cautious as the Eagles’ coach. During this time, his club used a high-tempo offensive, which exposed the backdoor to attack. If Eguavoen was guilty of being too cautious during his last stint as Super Eagles coach, he may have let himself down this time by being too daring. In some respects, this alters the nature of the talk that preceded the game.
A victory would have bolstered Eguavoen’s case for a permanent post, as an NFF official told ESPN earlier this week that the former defender would be granted the role.
However, the way in which the team lost on Sunday looks to have shifted the dynamic, with Eguavoen announcing his retirement on ESPN.
“That’s something I can’t think about right now. I’ll return to my position as technical director and leave the choice to the powers that be “he said
While this, Eguavoen emphasized the fantastic effort his squad performed throughout the game, pointing to how they were able to equal and dominate the statistics despite being down a man.
“Even after the red card, we had opportunities to score,” he told ESPN. “Statistics, on the other hand, do not win games; goals do. If there’s one thing I’d change about this group, it’s that we need to score more goals.”
They had to pay the price in the end. It also happened on the same day as Nigerians commemorated the birthday of late former coach Stephen Keshi, who guided the country to their most recent triumph.
The squad is already preparing for the World Cup qualifiers in March, according to NFF President Amaju Pinnick.
“We are proud of the guys’ efforts. Even though they were outnumbered, they gave it their best and tried their hardest to win. It wasn’t our day, to be sure “he said
“Losing at this level is difficult, but we may take heart from the team’s positive attitude throughout its four matches in Cameroon, three of which they won.”
“In March, the emphasis and attention will move to the FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff versus Ghana. We want to reassure Nigerians that we would work even harder in preparation for the two matches in order to succeed.”
The “nigeria vs cape verde” is a match that was played on the 6th of October, 2018. The game was between Tunisia and Cape Verde. During the match, Tunisia exposed Nigeria’s deficiencies in stunning AFCON upset.
Related Tags
- nigeria vs liberia
- nigeria vs algeria
- nigeria match today
- nigeria vs cameroon
- tunisia vs equatorial guinea prediction
