With goals from Cyriel Dessers and Ademola Lookman, Nigeria's Super Eagles beat Ghana 2-1 in Marrakech, Morocco, for their first win against their West African arch-rivals in 18 years.
The Super Eagles ticked a lot of boxes with their collective performance, but a forensic analysis reveals some questions that need answering as the team continues with life after the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2024).
Here are three of those questions:
Who steps in for Osimhen?
Nigeria didn't get nearly as many goals as they'd expected from Victor Osimhen, their leading front-man at the AFCON — just one, from a player capable of so much more — but Jose Peseiro's team adjusted by defending the few they scored very well.
That strategy, until the final, worked almost flawlessly. Against Ghana, Nigeria didn't have him at all, with the Napoli star ruled out with an injury. However, interim manager George Finidi managed to mastermind a fine attacking display.
Still, some good chances were missed, and Dessers — despite fetching the opener — didn't offer quite the same presence and cutting-edge Osimhen offers on his day. Kelechi Iheanacho, mostly shunted out wide, and was hardly a threat to the Ghana goal.
With Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi also missing due to fitness issues (and Victor Boniface still out), Finidi was left with Umar Sadiq as the sole alternative to Dessers in his match-day squad. The Spain-based striker, though, never even left the bench.
For all that has been said about this being a ‘golden age’ for Nigerian strikers, it feels as though much of that promise hinges on just a player or two (or, at most, three), in whose absence not much happens. And that's just not sustainable enough.
Iwobi upfront for good?
The entire Nigeria team was left miserable after losing the AFCON final, but Alex Iwobi had even greater reason to feel bitter, after he was singled out for criticism — nay, outright abuse — by fans online for his performance on the night.
But he came back strong in his next game for the Super Eagles, and much of that had to do with the 27-year-old being deployed, not in the midfield that seems his natural niche, but as part of a three-man attack.
Iwobi vindicated that decision, delivering a first goal contribution for Nigeria since June 2022 and an overall shift that would no doubt endear him to his countrymen again.
It remains to be seen, however, whether Finidi — or whoever the next substantive head coach of the team is — would keep Iwobi further upfield where his offensive qualities are clearly better utilised.
The rich dividends of stationing him so far out for Nigeria for the first time since AFCON 2021, suggests he probably shouldn't be played anywhere else going forward.
Has Finidi made a strong case for Super Eagles job?
A first game as Nigeria head coach doesn't get more intense than one against the old enemy, Ghana, but Finidi aced the test brilliantly.
It wasn't just the result that was positive. The performance itself — refreshingly progressive, a welcome break from the cautious approach that defined Peseiro's tenure, especially the last weeks of it — was, too.
And no passage of play summed up that switch better than the sequence of passes from back to front which clinched victory despite Ghana's late rally — started by goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, and finished by Lookman.
Save a few flaws here and there requiring some tweaking, this was nearly the football Nigerians have long cried out for. The answer to their pleas, it would seem, lies much closer to home than the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) — currently searching far and wide for Peseiro's long-term successor — may be willing to look.
Finidi may not necessarily have sold a winning pitch with just this victory, but if this team serves up a similar level of performance (or better) against Mali on Tuesday, it would be hard to look past the reigning NPFL champion for the position.
