The Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr still have some problems to be solved in the Super Eagles despite a 2-0 victory over Liberia to avoid slipping up against Cape Verde in Lagos.
Nigeria and Cape Verde won their respective penultimate matches to set up a winner take all decider in Lagos on Tuesday, (16 November 2022) by 4 pm.
The Super Eagles stay on top of Group C with 12 points, two points ahead of Cape Verde, who are on 10 points leaving them with " beat the Super Eagles in Lagos" as the only to qualify from the group.
Recent Slip-Ups
Though that looks like a tall order recent results have shown that the Super Eagles are susceptible to occasional slip-ups especially when it is least expected.
For example, just a year ago in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, the Super Eagles threw away a four lead against lowly rated Sierra Leone.
Also less than two months ago, the Super Eagles in Lagos in the 2022 World Cup qualifier lowly rated the Central Africa Republic by 1-0.
The Decider
Nigeria was able to turn the corners during those slips because there were more games left to make amends.
There is no margin for errors in the match against Cape Verde on Tuesday as a loss will throw Nigeria out of the race to Qatar 2022.
Hence, the problems noticed in their match against Liberia needs to be addressed immediately to avoid stories that touch the heart.
The problems
Shaky central defence
The Super Eagles were lucky to keep a clean sheet against Liberia as the central defence of the Super looks shaky for the whole of ninety minutes.
The pair of William Ekong and Leon Balogun have so far failed to pull up a solid cover for the goalkeeper since the beginning of the qualifier and that Cape Verde will explore that weak link in the Super Eagles defence to hurt the team is an open secret.
The coach needs to work out something fast to ensure the central defence is solid avoid the mistake of matchday two during the qualifier when errors from both players lead to the defeat of the Super Eagles against the Central Africa Republic in Lagos.
A poor final ball through to attack from the midfield
The Super Eagles got better against Liberia with the return of Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi as Joe Aribo also upped his game.
Nevertheless, the final ball through to the attackers was always a problem throughout the match as Alex Iwobi miscued almost all his decisive passes to the opponent or put in a wrong foot which made goal scoring a bit difficult for the strikers.
Though Chidera Ejuke was able to manage the situation better than Alex Iwobi by not losing the ball to the opponent.
However, the link passes from him to the strikers was missing apart from his occasional dance and dribble on the ball that leads nowhere but a back pass to the defenders.
Gernot Rohr must continue to work on the engine room and ensure they can locate the strikers with the passes that matters and Nigeria will beat Cape Verde on Tuesday in Lagos.
Set pieces
The conversion rate of the Super Eagles when it comes to set-pieces is abysmally low as 99% of the team goals in the qualifier came through open play despite the high volume of free kicks and corner kicks the team do get especially when playing at home.
The Cape Verdians may likely sit back and wait to break down the Super Eagles on a counter.
This ploy implies that the Super Eagles will enjoy the lion share of possession but penetration may be a problem as the opponent may likely commit fouls in the dangerous areas.
The easiest way to beat this tactic is to score from one of the resulting free kicks as this will open up the game for the Super Eagles to wreak more havoc.
So the coach must find a way to ensure corners kicks and free kicks in dangerous areas are converted to goals on Tuesday when the Super Eagles host Cape Verde in Lagos so that everyone can jubilate and celebrate after the 90 minutes on Tuesday.
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