Cameroon win against Gambia showed what went wrong with Nigeria against Tunisia
It is still surprising how the Super Eagles of Nigeria were beaten by Carthage Eagles of Tunisia at AFCON 2021 round of 16.
Nigeria were all bookmakers favourites to go through, but were shocked by Youssef Msakni’s long-range shot at the 47th minutes.
Tunisia were not the best team on the night but they did what they had to do to book a place in the quarter-final.
It was a game won tactically as Nigeria struggled despite having lot of the ball possession while playing one man less.
Coach Bilal Kadri explained a bit of Tunisia tactics and how they exploited Nigeria’s deficiencies.
“Today we came up with tactics to put pressure on the Nigerian wingers because they are very dangerous.
“And we also know they have difficulties when they lose the ball.”
This same sentiment was echoed by Austin Okocha who said Simon Moses made stopping him look easy and lacked the initiatives to find a solution.
“Simon Moses made it easy for Tunisia to stop him.
“They doubled on him down the flank and I expect that he moves into the midfield instead of staying on the flank.”
It was clear for all to see that Nigeria’s danger man Simon Moses was doubled on and stopped by the Tunisians, so was unable to help the team.
But, something could have been done tactically and also maybe if we had the tools to make other changes.
Credit where due, coach Eguavoen saw what happened and tried to find a solution by bringing in Alex Iwobi to join Joe Aribo and Wilfred Ndidi in the midfield.
The idea was for the team to play from the midfield especially with Iwobi’s ability to pick pocket of spaces, but he too was sent off less than 10 minutes after he came on.
Yesterday, in the game between Cameroon and Gambia similar thing played out. Vincent Aboubakar Cameroon main player was almost neutralized and wasn’t at his best.
But Karl Toko Ekambi stepped up and scored the two goals that helped Cameroon secure a 2-0 win against Gambia.
When Simon Moses Nigeria’s danger man was stopped against Tunisia who stepped up?
Like, what options did we have on the bench to make the desired changes needed on the day?
No doubt, Nigeria missed the presence of Victor Osimhen in the team he could have offered something different when Simon Moses was ineffective.
Samuel Chukwueze was ineffective at the tournament, it wasn’t the best tournament for many of the players.
But with games against Black Stars of Ghana around the corner, Super Eagles coach needs a plan B.
Whoever will be in charge of the team needs to be able to bring in fire power for another.
A little tactical tweak against Tunisia would have given Nigeria the win needed on the day but there was no ‘Karl Toko Ekambi’ to help our ineffective ‘Simon Moses’.
