Portugal 2: Nigeria 1 – Retrospective Reflection

Portugal 2: Nigeria 1 – Retrospective Reflection

There are times when you just have to stand up and applaud the eloquently executed individual mastery involved in the goals conceded by your own team. I have gone back to watch the match and couldn’t fault any individual Super Eagles player for the goals Portugal scored last night. Their buildup was impeccable, and the way each Portuguese striker created space for himself inside our 18-yard box to riffle past a despairing Okoye was poetry-in-motion, on each occasion.

The Super Eagles, in my humble opinion, played exceptionally well. Portugal are an “A” Listed team on paper and on the pitch, and their depth of quality and breadth of pristine technicality is undeniable. Yet our Super Eagles held their own to grind out a supremely respectable slim loss.

Right fullback Christian Akpan had a baptism of international football fire yesterday, yet he doused the flames with calmness when he lost the ball and his man but he showed emerging maturity when he had the ball. It was like being introduced to the WWF or boxing for the first time to face Mike Tyson, Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. Yet, when he was knocked down by immaturity,he would always dust himself up and punch back with tackles, interceptions and passes that mark him out well-suited for this sort of occasion. As well as his fellow rookie predecessors (Fredrick and Bewene) had performed on their first rodeos, I don’t think they had to do it facing Ronaldo and co.

And Ajayi, Bassey and Nnadi around him never complained one bit about Akpan. In fact, they all combined effortlessly to keep Portugal at bay in that part of the pitch. Bassey made me laugh delightfully, honestly. He is irrepressible and ubiquitous, showing up around the centre circle, rugby-tackling Fernandez to the ground, shooting from a corner kick, executing last-ditch tackles and using his physicality to great effect: he was bloody awesome and a joy to watch!

Ajayi would deny Ronaldo several times with timely interceptions and clearances, even as he combined beautifully with Okoye and others to circulate the ball, play it out from behind and frustrate Portugal. Okoye was colossal! You would think he had boxing gloves on, punching the ball with grace and brutality, particularly in the second half, when numerous missiles were brutally launched at him. He met the moment with his imposing presence and unyielding posture and parries. He surely kept the scoreline respectable!

Onyeamachi is the master of deception. He lulls you into this faint false sense of him being disarmingly harmless, yet he is a ruthlessly efficient operator. He seems to fly under the radar, but it is the faulty radar failed to identify him, as he is there, here, everywhere. He was calm on the ball, effective in his tackles and often timely in interceptions, always willing to take one for the team if needs be, as evidenced by his yellow card. Along with Iwobi, Simon and Ndidi, he forged a good productive partnership as they often passed the ball into dangerous Portuguese areas.

Ndidi himself was authoritative. Okay, his shots were poor and embarrassing, but when it comes to neat tackles, retrievals and interceptions, nobody does it better. I counted no less than 4 occasions where he single-handedly retrieved the ball from the Portuguese with effortless ease inside Nigeria’s 18-yard box: simply and utterly brilliant! He combined well with Iwobi, who (Iwobi) kept it straight, simple, and structured with the staple passes we have come to know him for over the years. I don’t think Iwobi will improve beyond this and, at least, he didn’t allow himself to be dispossessed needlessly as he fought tooth and nail to keep the ball and distribute it to Dele-Bashiru and others.

For me, Bashiru was slow to get into the match. For the first 30 minutes, the game seemed to pass him by as he struggled to gain the necessary foothold needed to stamp his authority. Passes, runs, and crosses were just not forthcoming from him before his pristine pass to Adams for the goal. He did try hard to rev up his engine, but the thrust needed to power his performance beyond the ordinary to memorable heights just failed to be generated. Yet, for effort, you have to give him his onions.

Beside him was Nnadi, that quintessential Nigerian midfielder we have seen over the decades. He channelled that inner Mutiu Adepoju/Peter Etebo spirit to produce a performance laced with grit, physicality and endeavour. You struggle to get the ball off him, and he is ever looking to do Portugal some harm with seemingly harmless but harmful passes and an effort from nowhere at goal that would hit the target – he is not a genius but a true revelation who embodies that workaholic spirit of the silent surreal-but-superb Nigerian midfielder.

Look, don’t be fooled, Adams is not the best option for that support-striker or striker role for the Super Eagles. But, don’t be fooled, he will always make the starting 11 for Chelle because he is a safe bet, a team player, a goal scorer, a perfect professional. His status and position in Chelle’s pecking order of strikers is unassailable, and he came up with the goods again yesterday with a well-taken goal worthy of a World Cup stage. Can you imagine the audacity of finding the middle of the Portuguese goalkeeper’s legs from a saveable angle? Pure genius, pure class! Adams, I genuflect in awe!

Moses Simon is himself: neat legovers from the flanks, decent cut-backs, nice runs, positive interactions with those around him. He was meant to dovetail between a support striker and a left winger role yesterday. As a support striker, he was utterly useless; let’s keep it real – timing, connection, anticipation were all wrong, he never looked threatening. When he drifted to the flank, now you are cooking on a kerosene stove! He looked at home there, there, his natural habitat.

To the subs, Bewene continued from where he left off, growing in confidence with his tackles and interceptions. Onyeka was uncharacteristically highly forward-thinking in his passes and runs, genuinely creating openings with passes, and Portugal needed a last-ditch sliding tackle to dislodge him from the ball deep inside their 18-yard box before he had time to pull the trigger; GROOVY!! Moffi and Onyedika helped the team to keep its structure and shape off the ball and contributed to high pressing.

There was time for Zaidu to make one careless pass, whilst Onuachu sort of gave the Portuguese something different to think about with his physicality, movements and passes. Chukwueze had a glorious opportunity to run at the goal later on, but he sort of hesitated and checked his run before being brought down for no foul.

All in all, it was a great experience. The Super Eagles were tight and compact and did enough to leave the match with their heads held high. They showed a depth of focus and professionalism in execution to ensure that it wasn’t a one-sided encounter. To the very end, Nigeria could have equalised had Chukwueze kept his cool or had he been awarded that free-kick (one such example to emphasise Nigeria being in the contest to the very end).