By Kehinde Okeowo
After Nigeria defeated Liberia and Cape Verde, it needed two more wins in the double-header against Central African Republic ( CAR) to gain a commanding lead or even qualify from the group, depending on the outcome of the games between Liberia and Cape Verde.
The draw which paired the Eagles in group C against Cape Verde, CAR and Liberia was a very kind one, considering that Ghana and South Africa are in the same group, while Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon also play in the same group.
Nigeria is currently ranked 32nd in the world and 3rd in Africa, the nearest to us in our group in Cape Verde who is ranked 74th in the world and 14th in Africa. It is followed by CAR who is 118th and 31st in Africa and world respectively. Liberia is the lowest in the group, it is ranked 151st in the world and 44th in Africa.
Therefore, Cape Verde, the second best team in our group is 42 places below the Super Eagles, while CAR who defeated us 1-0 at the Teslim Balogun stadium in Lagos, is 86 places away from us in FIFA ranking.
This presupposes that we are supposed to have a relative easy game against them, given the quality of our players and the fact that we played the first leg in front of our fans, while the second leg will be played in Douala, Cameroon, which in reality, can pass for a neutral ground.
CAR taught us a great lesson that names and statistics do not win matches but adequate preparation and determination. The win against the Super Eagles is a moral booster for the less fancied Les Fauves of CAR, but a damaging psychological blow to our team.
While the excuse from Nigerian Coach, Gernot Rohr that the absence of Alex Iwobi and Wilfred Ndidi deprived us the needed creativity and solidity in the middle of the pack may be true, his lack of technical depth and poor game management were more glaring, as any coach who knows his onions, would have settled for a draw, given that we conceded in extra time and how badly our boys played.
A draw in that game would have been a better result to take to Cameroon, as we would still be 5 points ahead of CAR, now they can smell blood, they will want to beat us and go above us
The game against CAR in Duoala maybe Super Eagle’s last chance to qualify from the Group C, given the fact that a loss could see Nigeria who currently tops the group go as low and 3rd position and depend on results from other games to qualify, however, we can still qualify comfortably if we win the encounter.
The likely scenerio if we lose is that we may have to play catch up and needing to win our last two games , even that may not be enough, as two wins for CAR means we cannot catch them, so losing is putting qualification out of our hands, we must win or at least draw the game.
A draw will not be the end of the world , because, we would have ensured we are still ahead of the other teams in the group, as only Cape Verde, who will need to trash Liberia 6-0 to go above us.
Coach Rohr must bring all his experience to bear on this game, as he cannot afford to lose. Given the way the boys played in Lagos, a lot of improvement will be needed to win the second leg.
CAR will have to abandon their defensive approach and opt for more expansive pattern of play, if we are to win the encounter.
Truth be told, CAR didn’t offer much going forward in Lagos, they were only resolute at the back, so all we needed to do is not to play into their hands defensively, while we also attack cautiously.
Kelechi Iheanacho or Paul Onuachu must be fit for this return leg, since Taiwo Awoniyi and Victor Osimhen played to the gallery and lost their scoring boots in the game in Lagos.
Finally, hopefully Alex Iwobi, Oghenekaro Etebo, Wilfred Ndidi and a host of other players missing from this two encounters, are back for the last two games, so that they can provide the needed fluidity and composure for the last two games against Liberia and Cape Verde.
Rohr must ensure we don’t lose away to CAR on Sunday as we might as well kiss the competition goodbye if he does.
