Nigeria 3:2 Tunisia - A Retrospective Reflection

It was the best audition of Eric Chelle's tactical credentials, it was the worst rendition of Eric Chelle's tactical credentials.

Tunisia's tactical technique on the night, before the 70th minute, hid Eric Chelle's tactical shortcomings. Tunisia afforded Nigeria too much time on the ball, dropping too deep and relying on half baked counter attacks: an approach that suited Nigeria well.

You see, when Benin and Gabon gave Nigeria the freedom of the field, these opponents each suffered 4 goals against.

When Congo DR and Tunisia took the fight to Nigeria, Nigeria conceded 3 goals, 2 to Tunisia, 1 to Congo.

I would have been in an unbridled, unputdowable euphoria of excitement had the match ended 3:0. It would have served 2 purposes: 1. A statement of intent of Nigeria being title contenders, 2. A statement confirming that the Super Eagles can suppress, convincingly, oppositions who play tight and compact brand of football.

Am I happy about the scoreline? Hell Yeah! Am I grateful to Coach Chelle and the boys? You betcha! Am I perplexed about the ending? Affirmative!

The match ending 3:2, rather, the manner in which the match ended 3:2 left a disgusting taste in my mouth.

Had Tunisia played the whole match - open, vicious, compact, offensively ruthless - as they did in the last 15 minutes of the match, I would have had no problem.

But Tunisia paid dearly for playing negative football and when they decided to dial up the heat, they were out of tarmac, out of time for the world to really see how well a progressively attack minded Tunisia could have troubled, even hurt Nigeria.

As for Nigeria, a very big and emphatic well done for paying Tunisia the wages of lackadaisical football with 3 fabulously crafted goals before the near capitulation in the dying embers.

I thought it was a legitimate penalty award to Tunisia; tenuous, yes, tenable, yes too. More than the legality of the decision is the fact that Nigeria's defence at started haemorrhaging at the point with little idea as to how to stop the bleeding. So, the pressure poor Osayi-Samuel was under was indicative of the flaw in our design defensively under such circumstances.

It might sound I am sounding negative, no, I remain a fan of Chelle and his brand of football and his collection of players for this Super Eagles outfit.

To get to that next level, they need to prove that, when the going gets tough, their tactical infrastructure can help them get the tough going into the abyss.

That trick, they are yet to master.