Nigeria vs South Africa: 1 - 1 Retrospective Review (2nd Half)

In the first 15 minutes of the second half(45 – 60 minutes) I will award the Super Eagles 8/10 in how they did coach Finidi proud in coming out like a house on fire to score the equaliser in just the 1st minute of the half.

Iwobi would combined masterfully with Ndidi and Bassey in orchestrating eloquent passes before he located Onuachu who wonderfully timed his movement, laced with sturdy hold-up play to receive the pass and feed it back to Iwobi to send Dele-Bashiru on his way towards his swivel and stunning strike for Nigeria’s equaliser. It was Finidi’s philosophy finally finding home, and the coach has to be applauded for that methodical build up play which Bashiru helped to collect on its investments.

Despite zero dribbling abilities, Iwobi was proving to be a livewire in midfield with intelligent movements off the ball and urgency with it; he was definitely making his presence felt, more. The whole team was playing with composure and assurance. They were expansive and looked quite cohesive. Paul Onuachu (often an object of criticisms) was more involved, winning fouls and proving passing outlets. In truth, it’s hard to criticise any of the players in this period as Dele Bashiru was ruthlessly taken out by a rash tackle around S/African 18 yard box following another brilliant Super Eagles passing sequence from the back which was crowned with Lookman’s through ball to Bashiru.

The Super Eagles looked “comfortable” under their skins in this shapeless approach: goalkeeper playing as centre back; full backs as wingbacks; centre forward in attacking midfield; attack midfielder as centre forward (who scored the goal); defensive midfielder pulling out crosses. It’s a mess; the players are all over the place. But it is beautiful mess as it conjured the imaged of how comfortable, expressive and expansive in their play some of us fans had been yearning from the Super Eagles. Again, will this approach stand the test of time? I don’t know.

Super Eagles’ expansiveness continued to be a bane as South Africa gained in-roads from Tanimu’s wing and from the defensive midfield arena but Nigeria stood strong.

In the second 15 minutes (60 – 75 minutes) I will award the Super Eagles 7/10 for a truly thrilling and engrossing passage of play.

Here, the Super Eagles tried to shore up the defensive midfield with a double pivot of Ndidi and Iwobi which only created space higher up that South Africa exploited to great effect (it’s like Finidi struggles to really craft a compelling midfield that balances defence and attack effectively). Ndidi exhibited a spark of great chemistry with Iwobi, often locating him with neat passes after shrugging off his markers. Yusuf was busy and effective after coming off to repel a counter attack with a great tackle.

Bassey was solid here in last ditch defending; Onuachu came to the defence to collect the ball; Chukwueze was very lively, darting into space to pick out Yusuf with a glorious ball inside the 18 yard box; Another cross from Chukwueze almost locate Onuachu (in fact Chukwueze was in the mood!); the Super Eagles at times assumed a 5-4-1 when defending (giving a brief echo of the days of Peseiro); and Nwabili always looked comfortable as an all-round modern day Keeper-sweeper.

In this time, again following an extensive period on the ball across the pitch with fluid passing routines and movements, Osayi-Samuel had a tame shot on goal from close range with assist from Onuachu and initial cross from Lookman. Immediately after, Nwabili again run out to pull off a fine save with the defence wide open. The gloves were truly off from both sides now as Lookman instantly dribbled to create a chance which Iwobi fluffed, only for Percy Tau also fluff his lines, 1 on 1 with Nwabili and then, Nigeria were attacking again! End to end stuff here.

Overall, I liked it that both sides went for the jugular in this period – perhaps the most action-soaked as it ended with Yusuf and Chukwueze executing a 1-2 passing routine that tore open the S/African defence only for Chukwueze’s shot to smash the crossbar!

In the last 15 minutes (75 – 90 minutes + extra time) I will award the Super Eagles 7/10.

The players on both sides were getting tired at this stage but Chukwueze was still lively, finding Lookman with a neat pass before the Atalanta man crashed his shot in a body of players. Nigeria still looked open and vulnerable when defending with gaps and holes all over the place that South Africa failed to exploit. But, on the ball, the Super Eagles looked assured, purposeful and composed.

I like the various 1-2 manoeuvres of the Super Eagles in this match with one resulting in a shot just wide from Lookman in 86 minutes. A glorious long ball to Lookman in 91 minutes led to his riveting shot at goal which the South African goalkeeper had to punch away. Another through ball to Moffi led to a 1 v 1 with the goalkeeper. Nigeria’s passes were effectively executed on the night. There was still time for S/Africa to penetrate Nigeria’s porous defence for Nwabili to the rescue with another timely interception in 93 minutes. The game remained end-to-end action until the end!

In summary, I think the Super Eagles lacked organisation. They looked very disjointed with a breezy, and buoyant brand of football and an approach that looks more suited to a friendly match. But, if this is how Finidi wants to play, then he needs to find a way of making this expansive approach a winning strategy against formidable opponents. I enjoyed the football to no end but we always looked suspect at the back. Should Finidi find a way to produce results with this approach, he will be a KING!