Nigeria looked OK against Benin, but have work to do in AFCON qualifiers

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Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen stole the headlines for Nigeria in their win against Benin on the weekend, but more will be required defensively to make it through the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers successfully.

Just days after being named as one of the nominees for the Ballon d’Or, and the only African on the men’s shortlist, Lookman inspired Nigeria to a 3-0 win in their opening game of the qualifying series.

The Atalanta forward helped himself to a brace, including a fine solo effort, while the returning Osimhen celebrated his loan move to Galatasaray, after an offseason of protracted uncertainty, by claiming the other goal.

While stand-in Nigeria coach Augustine Eguavoen played down any thoughts of revenge in the build up to the game, the result did go some way towards assuaging feelings of hurt inflicted by the Cheetahs when they handed defeat to the Super Eagles during the World Cup qualifiers in June.

Here are a few observations from the game, as the Super Eagles prepare for their next fixture against Rwanda on Tuesday.

Lookman is the team’s talisman now

Lookman’s first goal was a mesmerizing work of art. His second was a thing of pure beauty. But what really caught the eye was his overall display of cutting edge attacking play. The Atalanta man was both the fulcrum and pointed end of Nigeria’s most dangerous forays.

Showing quick feet and even quicker thinking, the forward gave the Cheetahs defence different looks each time, whether it was driving vertically, or sliding in laterally with close control and slippery dribbles.

Overall, the team looked closer in solidity, if slightly better in fluidity, to the one which thrilled the country at AFCON not so many months ago.

There is a reason Lookman is the only African nominated for the Ballon d’Or, and this display against Benin not only justifies his selection, in addition to his quality performances last season for his club and for Nigeria, but cements his claim to replace Osimhen as African Player of the year.

If that happens, it would mark the first time since the 90s that Nigeria would win back to back awards.

Still a few issues at the back

Overall, the team looked more steady, controlled the game, had a better handle on the midfield and – just like they did at AFCON – created a ton of opportunities that really should have seen the game put to bed way before Lookman opened the scoring.

Looking at you, Samuel Chukwueze and Victor Boniface …

However, it is at the back that we do need to make some call-outs. Benin barely got any attacking threat of note, but they could well have gone ahead early, all due to defensive failures, but for goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali .

In the second half, a vertical ball was allowed to split the defence and Steven Mounier had a clear view of goal, with just William Troost-Ekong aware enough to track him. Again, Nwabali was alert to the danger.

Like Ekong says, as long as the team can keep the door shut at the back, opportunities will come: “With the attacking talent that we have, everybody knows how dangerous we are and that if we play well and we do our best to keep the door shut at the back, we are going to create chances to score.

“I have great belief that if we give the boys enough balls at the front that they will put them away.”

At full strength, the Super Eagles are formidable

As they showed at AFCON early in the year, when at full strength and under pressure, the Super Eagles can and do deliver.

Lacking key personnel, having players report late and uncertainty in the coaching situation all combined to compromise the team’s performance in those World Cup qualifying games.

While the coaching situation has still not been resolved to any sort of satisfaction, Eguavoen provides a stable, continuous presence. As technical director, he has oversight over the coaches, and thus is one who is a recurring decimal within the team.

In addition, his range of national team coaching experience, dating all the way back to the under 17s in 2003 and the Super Eagles in 2006, allows him to bring steady hands to right a floundering ship.

Add to that a team with their backs to the wall, who needed to not just prove a point to their fans, but put an exclamation mark on it and the signs were aligned for a good, if not a great result.

No one could have put it any better than the coach himself: “When much is expected from Nigerians, that is when we see performance.

“We have been getting a lot of backlash and the boys know it. We know we have the calibre and quality to beat any team. But we respect teams. So anybody can come in and do the same job.

“It’s just a mindset, have the potentials, check out the opponents and give the players the information and they will go out and do the job.”

Will Eguavoen be able to secure the job?

This will be his fourth iteration as Super Eagles coach, and this recent return is almost 20 years to the first time he did it in 2005 when he stepped in after Christian Chukwu was fired when it was clear Nigeria could no longer qualify for the 2006 World Cup.

On almost every occasion, he steps in as a stop gap. Each of his previous three stints have started with a win and he continued that streak.

In his first stint, after taking over from Chukwu, he led the Super Eagles to a 5-2 win over Algeria , even though that resulted ended up proving inconsequential in the end.

Four years later he stepped in after Lars Largerback left the Super Eagles in a lurch post 2010 World Cup, and his first game in charge was away to Lesotho. Not only did he succeed in bringing back a disaffected Yakubu Ayegbeni, who had been alienated at the time, he won that first game 1-0 with Yakubu scoring the winner.

And on his third incarnation as Super Eagles coach, he took over after Gernot Rohr was fired, leading the team to the Africa Cup of Nations where his first game was a 1-0 win over Egypt .

There are many Nigerian football fans who doubt Eguavoen’s coaching chops, but he almost always delivers when needed, and it is not by accident.

Against Benin, he made a bunch of good decisions, choosing not to start Osimhen, who had not played a lick of competitive football so far this season while mired in his transfer issues.

And he timed his substitutions to perfection, hooking the likes of Wilfred Ndidi , Samuel Chukwueze and Victor Boniface at the right times with sub Osimhen scoring the second goal and Moses Simon providing the assist for Lookman’s second.

Fans were displeased… but have come back onside

Four games without a win in World Cup qualifying had left fans displeased with the Super Eagles, and they showed it with their feet and their pockets.

During the week that the team were preparing for Benin, there was not the usual invasion of their sessions by fans hoping to catch a glimpse of training, get some autographs or even ask for shirts and handouts.

With minutes to kickoff, the Godswiand well before the halfway point of the first half, the house was rocking.

Coming off the high of the team’s Final appearance at AFCON, there was a spike in interest and support, but that was quickly dampened by the mediocre World Cup qualifying displays.

By the end of this game, the fever was back, a sign that this rollercoaster relationship between team and fans is going nowhere.

Captain Troost-Ekong acknowledged the dampener but wants the fans to believe in the team: “We had some doubts from your side, as always, but we ask everyone to keep supporting the team.

“We have shown that with your support we can do well.”

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