Port Elizabeth Preview

Coming off a respectable 2nd place finish in Beijing with the wind at our backs, we turn our attention to the next slate of qualifying matches with our eyes ever fixed on South Africa (for the actual tourney). The bad news? Injuries galore. With top talent like Kanu and Martins up front, Obi in the middle, Yobo in the back, and Enyeama in the goal all out, there are several things to be worried about. There’s also the interesting little sideshow that is the Carlton Cole saga.

My biggest concern is the goal since we had only Enyeama in there during the first ties. Our defense has been pretty impressive so far, but it has sometimes required a-or several- moment(s) of brilliance from the keeper. Will we be able to keep our clean sheet (at best) or top position (at worst) with an untried commodity like Etafia or a lesser experienced keeper like Aiyenugba. This should at least open up debate on how viable it is to pin all our hopes on a single goal keeper without really making an effort to develop the younger ones on the international stage.

On the defensive end, Yobo has been a powerhouse and he will be sorely missed. However, this presents an opportunity for someone like Odiah or Nwaneri to step up and provide some real leadership. Taiwo has already proved how valuable he can be, so he will need to bring his best game. First capping Daniel Ola gets to show the country some of what he’s got.

The middle presents the greatest challenge, as it has throughout this qualifying campaign. However, given that the team has been able to achieve so much with a problematic middle, I don’t foresee it being a greater than usual issue.

While football365<’s Richard Ferraris thinks Coach Amodu might try a 4-5-1 formation with Aiyegbeni as the lone striker, I posit a more traditional 4-4-2 with Ikechukwu Uche joining Aiyegbeni up front and Olofinjana or Kalu Uche holding the offensive midfield.

The challenge of the final matches of this stage is to cement the team and allow these players to get a rhythm flowing, a rhythm that will serve them well as they proceed to the next stages and on to the tournament. Injuries do throw a screw into these dealings but we must play with the team we have, not the team we want. In brief, Go Eagles!