Super Eagles: 3 players who failed to impress against Madagascar

The Super Eagles recorded a hard-earned 2-1 win over Madagascar in the opening game of their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign on Friday, Afrik-Foot reports.

Nigeria entered the campaign aiming for a fast start to their qualifiers, and they did just that with the win, putting them on three points and avoiding any shock outcome.

However, it was not all rosy for the Super Eagles, as they had to dig deep and come from a goal down to secure all three points. Madagascar took the lead in the 16th minute when defender Ehsan Kari beat the offside trap to head the ball past Stanley Nwabali.

Nigeria then began to improve and thought they had found an equaliser through Alex Iwobi in the 34th minute. However, the goal was ruled out for a foul by Akor Adams on the Madagascar goalkeeper.

The Super Eagles were not to be denied, though, as George Ilenikhena scored a superb goal on his debut to equalise and send both teams into the halftime break level.

Nigeria eventually completed the comeback when another debutant, Moses Usor, produced a superb individual effort to score the winning goal on his debut and seal all three points for Eric Chelle’s side.

While several players impressed, including the two debutants who made an instant impact, some others struggled to make their mark during the game.

Afrik-Foot looks at three Super Eagles players who failed to impress against Madagascar.

Three Super Eagles players who struggled against Madagascar

1. Akor Adams

Adams was expected to shoulder much of the goalscoring responsibility in Victor Osimhen’s absence and lead the line for Nigeria.

However, it was another disappointing performance from the Nigerian attacker, whose struggles have continued at club level this season.

Adams has struggled since joining newly promoted Serie A side Venezia in a club-record deal during the summer, and those difficulties appeared to follow him into the Super Eagles.

The striker was involved in the incident that saw Alex Iwobi’s 34th-minute goal ruled out after he was penalised for a foul on the goalkeeper. Apart from that, Adams struggled to make much of an impact in attack and failed to register a shot on goal before being replaced in the second half.

He was taken off for Moses Simon, who came on to make his 100th appearance for the Super Eagles.

2. Ademola Lookman

Another player who failed to make a strong impression against Madagascar was Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman.

Lookman played a part in Nigeria’s equaliser, with his dummy allowing Alex Iwobi’s pass to run through to Ilenikhena, who finished superbly.

However, aside from that moment, the Atalanta forward struggled to make much of an impact during the game.

He managed just two shots and was unable to produce the quality Nigeria needed from one of their most dangerous attacking players.

With Osimhen absent, more was expected from Lookman, but he rarely managed to trouble the Madagascar defence and struggled to influence the game in the way many fans would have hoped.

3. Taiwo Awoniyi

Ordinarily, Taiwo Awoniyi would not have been in the squad for the games against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau. However, Victor Osimhen’s absence led to his late call-up as a replacement, giving the Coventry City striker another opportunity to make an impression for the national team.

Awoniyi came on in the second half but struggled to make an impact after entering the game. He barely had an opportunity to threaten the Madagascar defence and was unable to give Nigeria the attacking presence they needed as the game entered its closing stages.

With Nigeria now preparing for their next qualifier against Guinea-Bissau, Awoniyi will hope for a better performance if he gets another opportunity to feature.