Nations Cup: Super Eagles in do or die with Squirrels of Benin

Here is my favoured starting line-up against Benin:

Keeper: Enyeama
RigbhtB: Odiah
LeftB: Taiwo (although Amodu is said to have dropped him)
Central Defenders: Yobo & Shittu
Defensive midfield: Ayila
Attacking Midfield: Mikel & Uche
Right Wing/Left Wing/Central Striker: Obasi/Yakubu/Osaze

Subs:
- Martins for Yakubu
- Nsofor for Osaze or Obasi depending on performance

Bringing on Kanu would only mean our midfield is lacking creativity so that would be a an alert signal.

Here is my favoured starting line-up against Benin:
Keeper: Enyeama
RigbhtB: Odiah
LeftB: Taiwo (although Amodu is said to have dropped him)
Central Defenders: Yobo & Shittu
Defensive midfield: Ayila
Attacking Midfield: Mikel & Uche
Right Wing/Left Wing/Central Striker: Obasi/Osaze/Yakubu
Subs:
- Martins for Yakubu
- Nsofor for Osaze or Obasi depending on performance
Bringing on Kanu would only mean our midfield is lacking creativity so that would be an alert signal.

I think that shuaibu made a wise choice by changing his line up,but it would have been better if yakubu was removed cos he doesnt look fit. Nsofor,osaze ,obasi should be put in d left,central and right wing. However i believe the super eagles will defeat the squirrels but the coaching crew should be very careful

Hey Austin we do not know Amodu’s line up yet. This is just my own ‘if i were the coach’
Icegaze, we both have practically the same team out there except for Taiye Taiwo. I am not sure if you have been following his performance for the Super Eagles in the past two years as i am quite sure you will agree he should be dropped.

I just watched part of the Egypt game again, the first half and its amazing how we lost the match. In fact we probably could have been 3 up easily, We had 2 clear cut chances and 2 clear penalty calls not to talk of the other half chance.
So i think today should be good, the Squirrels would not be able to expose us as the Egyptians did in the second half. Hopefully.
Cheers

A review of this match shows we are very lacking in fitness. I wonder why they had been training only in the mornings until Thursday. Most of the players were fagged out by 70 minutes. A positive side however is our ability to create chances. The Super Eagles had enough chances both halves to have buried their opponents.
I am quite sure most of us saw the effect of Daniel Shittu as he could hold the line and even took over the defense in the presence of Yobo. Yobo too was now a bit more aggressive until his injury. Yes we will miss him in case he does not recover quickly but not much as we have a capable Apam to come in.
Apam looked more agile and mobile in the last 20minutes of the game. Hopefully he can sustain that through out 90minutes

All in all not so much of a bad game against the Squirrels and i saw a bit of improvement in ball movement coupled with the Osaze option. Our transitional play was better and i do expect a better and fitter team on Wednesday.

With Benin well behind us now SE qualification to the next round is all about confidence. Ball possession was quite good early part of the game and SE could have buried their our brothers from West Africa by end of the 1st half. All in all a better performance even though not a highly rated adversary.

I would like to see Mikel bulldoze his way through the midfield like he did against Benin when he was fouled in the first half. It was the resultant freekick into the opponents penalty area that led to the penalty that resulted in the goal.

Bulldozing through the midfield is the one technic SE are not adopting to any effect at all. The midfielders have to be a bit more assertive going forward forcing opponents into fouls, free kicks, card bookings and constantly putting the opponents midfield and defence under pressure. Kalu \ Mikel get with it.

Still trying to work out what part Martins will play against Mozambique, anyhow he is a useful and potent resource if called upon at any time.

By some design of nature I think the defence has finally picked itself. Due respect for Yobo and wishing him a quick recovery, however in this moment I am much more comfortable with Danny and the 20 or more minutes I saw of Apam. The 2 wing backs did exactly what wing backs do [defend] very well with the right back feeding Osaze and Obasi reasonably well

IT’S ALL ABOUT CONFIDENCE FROM HERE ON GO SE GO

I eventually decided against opening another topic for today’s match as i thought it wont be as dramatic as predicted.
The SE (Super Eagles) eventually showed the gap between them and the mambas of Mozambique. I am sure they are still stunned as to conceding 3 goals but the superiority in experience was the difference between both teams. They did most of the running around and we did the scoring just like Drogba’s men did to the Ghanaian team.
The best news for me today is the fact that Obafemi could play and he even scored. He is a player needed to complement the fast attack play of Obasi and Osaze.
Likewise just as you have observed, a lot of people tend to prefer Apam to Yobo me inclusive. The major reason for this is the fact that Shittu takes over the command in the defense and he can lead. Apam too is a very aggressive player and that’s exactly what we need for now.
The World Cup train will surely turn out some new 5-6 players.
Since we castigate Amodu when they mess up we have to say congratulation now that they put the mambas in their place.

the ghana vs ivory coast game ended up being far from world class. good job by the eagles against benin.