Super Eagles: 3 areas Chelle must improve before Guinea-Bissau showdown

The Super Eagles began their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with a 2-1 comeback win over Madagascar on Friday, Afrik-Foot reports.

Eric Chelle’s men fell behind in the 16th minute when Ehsan Kari ghosted behind the Nigerian defence before finishing to give Madagascar the lead.

However, goals from George Ilenikhena and Moses Usor completed the comeback and ensured Nigeria began their campaign with all three points.

The Super Eagles will now face Guinea-Bissau in their second game, with their opponents also picking up a win in their opening fixture. Guinea-Bissau defeated Tanzania 2-0 and currently sit top of Group L, setting up an early clash between the two teams at the top of the standings.

The winner of the encounter could take an early advantage in the group, making it an important game for Chelle and his players.

Nigeria showed some weaknesses during the victory over Madagascar and will need to improve in several areas, especially with Guinea-Bissau likely to provide a tougher test.

Where the Super Eagles must improve before facing Guinea-Bissau

1. The Super Eagles must be more clinical in front of goal

One of the biggest areas Chelle needs to address is Nigeria’s finishing. With Victor Osimhen absent through injury, the goalscoring responsibility has fallen on other players, with Taiwo Awoniyi coming into the squad as his replacement.

Nigeria found the back of the net twice against Madagascar, but both goals came from moments of individual quality. The first was created by a superb pass from Alex Iwobi, with Ademola Lookman making a clever dummy that allowed Ilenikhena to get through and score.

The second was another impressive individual effort, as Usor picked up the ball deep in his own half, went on a brilliant run, beat two defenders and fired his shot into the near post.

Apart from those two moments, Nigeria struggled to make their dominance count. The Super Eagles had 22 attempts during the game but only four were on target. They also missed two big chances, while Madagascar had just one attempt on target and scored from it.

That level of wastefulness could become costly against Guinea-Bissau. Chelle must therefore find a way to make Nigeria more clinical in the final third and ensure they take their chances when they come.

He may also need to consider his attacking options carefully, especially after the struggles of Akor Adams, Lookman and Awoniyi during the Madagascar game.

2. Nigeria must defend better

Nigeria have struggled to keep clean sheets in recent games, and while their defence did a fairly good job against Madagascar, one lapse in concentration was enough to put them behind.

Kari managed to get behind the Super Eagles’ offside trap before finding the net, with the Nigerian defenders failing to deal with the danger despite having more players around the situation.

The problem was not necessarily the number of defenders around the ball but the lack of concentration at the crucial moment.

Against Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria cannot afford similar mistakes. The Super Eagles may have enough attacking quality to score, but conceding avoidable goals will make their job much harder.

3. Nigeria must avoid another slow start

The third major area Chelle needs to improve is Nigeria’s start to games. The Super Eagles were slow out of the blocks against Madagascar and were punished when Kari put the Barea ahead in the first half.

Although Nigeria showed good character to come back and win, they cannot continue giving opponents an early advantage.

Guinea-Bissau have already shown that they can be dangerous after their 2-0 victory over Tanzania, and another slow start could give them the confidence to control the game.

Nigeria need to start with greater intensity, move the ball quicker and put their opponents under pressure from the opening minutes.

They also need the points as quickly as possible if they want to establish an early advantage in Group L.

The win over Madagascar gave Nigeria the perfect start in terms of points, but Chelle will know that the performance still had areas that needed improvement.