Nigeria 0 South Africa 2: Six things we learned
Nigeria began their quest to qualify for the 2019 AFCON in Cameroon with a disappointing 2-0 home loss against South Africa on Saturday.
Goals from Tokelo Rantie and Percy Tau did the damage at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium.
Here are six things we learnt from the embarrassing defeat.
1. SOUTH AFRICA GET THE MONKEY OFF THEIR BACK
Nigeria have always bossed games against the Bafana Bafana, with the Super Eagles winning seven, drawing 4 and losing just 1 of the 12 games against them heading into the game.
However, Saturday evening was the day to make history as S/Africa won their first competitive game against Nigeria.
The 2-0 scoreline could have been worse, as S/Africa hit the bar twice and were denied a genuine penalty shout.
2. THE SUPER EAGLES DEFENCE TORN APART!
The Super Eagles defence was torn into pieces by the sleek South African attackers on the day.
Goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi was lucky to have not been punished in the first half after spilling a cross, while he could have done better for the opener.
Fullbacks Echiejile and Shehu Abdullahi didn’t offer anything going forward and were also caught wanting when the opposition attacked.
In addition, the communication between the centre backs Awaziem and Troost-Ekong was kindergarten at best!
3. NIGERIA LACKED LEADERSHIP ON THE PITCH
The absence of Captain Mikel Obi, Chelsea Wing-back Victor Moses and co was evident as Nigeria lost.
The players expected to take the mantle of leadership (Onazi and Echiejile) failed to rally the team when they were down.
Ahmed Musa who was a 2nd half substitute could not do much to influence the game when he replaced Alex Iwobi.
4. RANTIE AND BAXTER KNOW HOW TO HANDLE NIGERIA
Tokelo Rantie made it three goals in two games against Nigeria with the first goal of the encounter.
The Turkey based forward also scored a brace to deny Nigeria from participating at the 2015 AFCON.
For boss Stuart Baxter, he masterminded his second victory against Nigeria.
He also defeated the Super Eagles (1-0) during the 2014 Nelson Mandela Challenge. South Africa should now know the man to be on the bench anytime they are playing Nigeria!
5. GOOD UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THULANI AND MATHOHO
South Africa captain Thulani Hlatshwayo and defender Mathoho were on their hey game on the day.
They isolated Super Eagles dangerman Kelechi Iheanacho and also won a number of tackles and duels in an assured performance.
If they continue with their matured performance, Baxter will surely have little work to do on his backline!
6. WAKE UP CALL FOR ROHR
Gernot Rohr lost his unbeaten streak as the Super Eagles manager after 7 games in this game.
The German coach has been praised by a large section of the Nigerian media for making the team solid once again after some encouraging performances against Togo (3-0) and Algeria (3-1)
However, the way the team fell against S/Africa points to the direction that he might not be tactically versatile as the media has claimed!
Credit: Pfutbal
