Nigeria Vs Morocco 0:0 (2:4 penalties) Retrospective Reflection

After Nigeria's 2-4 penalty loss to Morocco in this week's Afcon semi final encounter, a lot of observers have observed that "the better side won".

Never a truer word spoken as, indeed, Morocco , the hosts, were the better side on the night. Better at creating chances, better at limiting Nigeria's chances, much better at taking their chances in penalties.

The Super Eagles didn't disappoint though. Far from it. They made the game a fascinating spectacle, a semi final to remember in how a number of our players stood up to be counted.

Count Nwabali whom many had grave concerns about, who flipped the script to produce excellent saves in open play and a decent penalty save which gave birth to hope that was swiftly aborted with poor returns from our penalty takers.

Count Bassey whose single-minded devotion to his craft made a mundane center defensive role look like a ballet.

Count the the entire Super Eagles team who, once again, faced up against an opposition playing better than them, dragged the match all the way to the trenches and mud-house of penalty kicks - Chelle's Super Eagles will always fight to the last man!

I am happy, I am unhappy. Happy that, once again we are among the top-dogs of African football but unhappy that we came short of last tournament's accomplishment.

Chelle started with his signature 4-3-1-2 arrangement which initially rattled the Moroccans but the North Africans grew to suppress this formation effectively. Our strikers were tightly marked, our passing lanes cut off, and our full backs put under pressure, incessantly.

Chelle then changed tack, removing Onyedika for Simon to now make it a 4-2-3-1, more so after Dele Bashiru came in to play right attacking midfield. But things didn't improve.

Morocco's low block pressing meant, all night, the passing lanes that Iwobi found to punish previous opponents were effectively blocked with Moroccan traffic. Hence, the passing routines we had used to blow previous opponent defences out of the water were nowhere in sight.

What happens when rehearsed routine that have worked previously become a broken record because of how tight, compact and focused your opposition is? This riddle, Chelle was unable to solve on perhaps the biggest night of his managerial career.