Nigeria 5:0 Zambia – Retrospective Player Ratings in Rousing Win

After her team were obliterated 5 goal to nil in the Wafcon quarter-final, the Zambian coach, Nora Hauptle said the Madugu-tutored Super Falcon possess footballing attributes “on another level” from any other team she has seen in this tournament.

She knew, as I know, that the Super Falcons will deliver a lot of crosses, and she said her team trained for this. But she was thunderstruck by the intensity, ferocity, and sagacity Nigeria channelled on the air and on grass on the night, to lift the on to cloud 9.

I now examine how the Super Falcons graded from my point of view.

The starters

Goalkeeper

Chiamaka Nnadozie: She walked a tightrope of balancing historical goalkeeping roles with modern-day gloves-woman responsibilities to match the moment compellingly. Her anticipatory instincts led to plucking the ball from the air with Banda waiting to pounce. With Nigeria playing a high line, Madugu instructed her to also play as a centre back, hence the number of time she tackled and intercepted, successfully, well outside her 18 yard box. Demonstration of contemporary goalkeeping acumen produced her route-one assist for Nigeria’s third goal and also gave rise to several successful routines of passing the ball out from the back.

Grade: Highly professional; exceptionally effective.

Defenders

Michelle Alozie: She was always going to beaten for pace. However, her ability to position herself and shield the defence was exemplary. She blocked shots with her body, forced the Zambians to go wide, and in cahoots with her defence colleagues, formed a defensive wall that proved impregnable to Zambia. She produced decent crosses, one which produced the pre-assist to Nigeria’s death-knell 5th goal. Individually, she didn’t stand out. As part of a collective, she was astute in every sense of the word.

Grade: An epitome of focus, concentration and drive.

Osinachi Ohale: Cometh the hour, cometh the woman! Her performance added a layer of authority to the Super Falcons overall presentation. She was one in mind, spirit and body with her defensive colleagues in reducing Zambia to feeding off crumbs in Nigeria’s box 18. She excelled in providing offensive threats in set-piece routines, in which she scored with a raucous header, and in providing leadership at the back with tackles, interceptions, marking and shielding that reduced Zambian strikers to tears after the encounter.

Grade: A paragon of exceptional leadership; defensive gravitas, grace and eloquence personified.

Oluwatosin Demehin: She dispatched her duties dispassionately. With the attentiveness of a hawk and the timing of an eagle, she would match the physicality of Banda with tackles, interceptions and blocks that were executed to perfection. Her roughhouse tactics, an illegal, yet essential tool in repelling stubborn foes like Banda, earned her a carded rebuke. Not content to defend, she chipped in with a header straight out of the pages of Mutiu Adepoju and Victor Agali!

Grading: Exceptional defending; impeccable team work; professional performance.

Ashleigh Plumptre: She blended her attacking responsibilities with her defensive sub-routines with elegance, poise and ease. Helping the team press higher up the pitch, Plumptre was never caught off guard. Though a defender, she was rarely off camera, always wanting to plant herself where the action is, where she can disrupt Zambia, where she can make an impact. Her tackles and interceptions (particularly higher up the pitch, where she intercepted a long pass from Zambia’s goalkeeper) could easily go unnoticed to the naked eye, but these were crucial in dispossessing, unsettling, and disrupting Zambia from getting into a routine long enough to seriously hurt Nigeria.

Grading: A performance oozing with confidence, grace, elegance and finesse, yet effective, professional and productive.

Midfielders

Halimat Ayinde: It was a blink and you would miss it performance from Ayinde. Ever the unsung hero, her markings and shielding particularly signalled to the Zambians that it would not be an easy night. Content to play her role, stay in her place and dominate her territory, the defensive midfield area was a fortress. Her maturity in this role meant she didn’t really have to make a reckless tackle – the kind that saw her red-carded last time round. Oh no! She jockeyed and repelled Zambian strikers by being where she was needed. She helped the team play out from the back, helping to generate urgency that produced resounding victory.

Grading: Flawless in attention-to-position; this match became a personal challenge for Ayinde: to prove her continued relevance to this team. She seems driven by unwavering confidence in her abilities and commitment to her steely work ethics, exemplified in the world cup and also showcased here.

Rasheedat Ajibade: ‘Blessed is the child that has got her own!’ Rasheedat went about her business with cool, cunning, and calculated villainy in a manner that left Zambia dumbfounded. Her delicate cross, across to the left winger, evading the confused Zambian goalkeeper, for Nigeria’s kiss of death 5th goal, demonstrated awareness to the structure of the formation. Her insidious green snake under green grass runs led to her being fouled in areas beneficial to Nigeria. Whether crossing (x2 assists), passing, pressing, probing, or just weaving her movements within the fabric of Madugu’s formation, Ajibade schooled us in a lecture of masterclass midfield movements.

Grading: A performance out of the top drawer, delivered a smooth as a mouth full over palm-wine over a velvet tongue; never skipping a beat!

Jennifer Echegini: She shifted across the attacking midfield territory on graceful monorail; not explosive nor overly expressive, but elegantly mounted with passes that were fit-for-purpose and movements that were fit for the occasion. On this occasion, neither her dribbles nor take-ons outstayed its welcome. She knew when to release the ball and released it when it needed releasing. Her withdrawn role, something that surprised me, allowed Ajibade to shine and kept the Zambians on their toes. She was instructed by Madugu to be less of an offensive threat but more of a midfield threat to prevent Zambia from getting into a sustained rhythm, from getting a strangle-hold in midfield, from getting the ball across to their danger women up-top: all instructions she executed to perfection, raising the profile of Nigeria’s midfield to dominance on the night.

Grading: Professional, precise, priceless!

Attackers

Folashade Ijamilusi: Despite Nigeria already 4 goals up, she didn’t put her foot off the gas in latching on to a late pass to pay Zambia the wages of arrogance with the 5th goal. She had a memorable night off the ball when the team was pressing high, pressing hard, pressing raw. She took attention away from her fellow strikers, allowing them to shine. And when it was her turn to take the spotlight, she didn’t shirk, with a neat goal worth its weight in copper (haha!)!!

Grading: Upright, upstanding, Upending (the opposition).

Esther Okoronkwo: She produced a rip-roaring offensive display that I found gripping, fascinating and enthralling. The execution of her freekick routines, which produced 2 glorious assists and almost a hat-trick, drew me in and definitely kept me there for the duration. On the ball, she captured ones attention and locked it in place with the simplicity in her ball control, touches and efforts on goal which defied explanation. She was the Swiss Watch heart of the attacking trio because of the meticulous mechanics that drove her interactions, runs, contacts with the ball, and all round distribution.

Grading: Irrepressible, unstoppable, unrelenting.

Chiwendu Ihezuo: Look at it from this perspective, a striker’s primary responsibility is to score, and Ihezuo delivered, from a classic route-one routine, overpowering 2 opposition defenders and finishing with aplomb. Never one to deliver high echelon crosses, she still played a pivotal role as winger with a physical edge, one able to find the back of the net if afforded too much time, space and opportunity. She almost scored a headed from another eloquent Okoronkwo free-kick.

Grading: Effective off the ball; promising with the ball.

The Substitutes and Coach

Sikiratu Isah: She had a job to do and she did it well in not letting Zambia have a route back into the game. She slotted into the game and played as “to the manner born” with her interactions which sustained sequences of possession.

Grading: Good concentration.

Deborah Abiodun: Never one to duck an issue, she got whacked on the head for her trouble, mercifully she was okay. Her introduction did not degrade the cadence of the midfield, if anything; she shored it up movements, interceptions and neat touches.

Grading: Focused.

Christy Ucheibe: She played with a sense of verisimilitude, injecting urgency into her passes, credibility into her marking, and authority into her team-work.

Grading: Nice.

Asisat Oshoala: Her positioning was excellent as you could always see her in the heart of Zambia’s centre defence. Her timing was impeccable and glorious to stay on-side in receiving passes. A pass from her to Ajibade almost produced a pre-assist. That was as good as it got. Her first touches were sub-par and too heavy. She didn’t posses trickery to take advantage of the time and space she created herself. One shot was so wayward it ended up being funny!

Grading: A mixed bag on the ball; but her eloquent sense of positioning was beyond critique!

Coach Justine Madugu: His high pressing philosophy was too hot for Zambia to handle. Decision to play Okoronkwo from the start proved a masterstroke. His now signature 4-3-3 formation with overlapping fullbacks, a marquee attacking midfielder (Ajibade, I am looking at you), a strong centre forward and sturdy defence, produced goals and kept another clean sheet. His old-fashioned approach to play produced results because of the quality of players at his disposal, and professional application from same players. One can say he is deploying human resources at his disposal judiciously, effectively and intelligently.

Grading: A1!