After the First Test

On Sunday, the Super Eagles played the Bafana Bafana in Abuja with great success. On the merit of technical soundness and overwhelming possession (65%) and two first half goals (10′ Ikechuckwu Uche, 44′ Obinna Nwaneri), the Super Eagles dominated South Africa. In the words of Nwankwo Kanu, “It was a good game, and we are back.”

In my mind, Coach Shaibu Amodu convincingly passed his first test back at the helm of the team. South Africa could not crack the defense he put together, and all their efforts at goal were restricted to long-range attempts. There were still gaps and a couple of squandered opportunities, but overall, this team definitely has the capability of making the World Cup.

The impact of the home field advantage should not be minimized in this match, as the crowd’s enthusiasm was virtually a 12th man on the Nigerian team. We are away to Sierra Leone in two days, and that match should prove telling about our away form.

While we are ranked higher than the Leone Stars in almost every way imaginable, football would not be as beautiful or as exciting without the potential for stinging upsets. Sierra Leone want this badly, but we should want it more. I hope the team take this game very seriously, as nothing, especially not our carelessness or cockiness should deny us a spot at SA2010.

UPDATE: I’m not sure how I got the impression that the EG and SL match ended in a scoreless draw. This post has been edited to reflect the actual fact.