3 things Nigerians expect from Eagles’ two crucial AFCON matches

Goals from returnee striker, Uche- One of the most anticipated moments in today’s fixture against the Red Devils of Congo will be the sighting of Ikechukwu Uche in the green and white Jersey after a near two year absence from the Eagles team which was caused by a rift between him and manager Stephen Keshi. […]

Goals from returnee striker, Uche- One of the most anticipated moments in today’s fixture against the Red Devils of Congo will be the sighting of Ikechukwu Uche in the green and white Jersey after a near two year absence from the Eagles team which was caused by a rift between him and manager Stephen Keshi. Number one striker Emmanuel Emenike hasn’t found the net for Nigeria in over a year (his last goal came against Ethiopia in the 2014 World Cup qualifier) after countless pleas from football loving Nigerians, Keshi has finally sheathe his sword by inviting the Villarreal striker back to the fold and the expectation from the gaffer and millions of his compatriots will be that the former Zaragoza star (who is in a fine scoring form for his Spanish club) will end Eagles troubles in front of goal by scoring as much as he can in the remaining two matches against Congo in Point-Noire today and South Africa in Akwa Ibom next week.
Purposeful attacking play- From the four AFCON qualification matches played so far, it was only against the Sudanese in Abuja that the Eagles showed quality intent attacking play but in the other three matches where they drew one (against Bafana in Cape Town) and lost two (against Congo in Calabar and Sudan in Khartoum) the team showed awful attacking play with the midfield duo of John Obi Mikel and Ogenyi Onazi failing to stamp their authority in the middle and wingers Ahmed Musa and Gbolahan Salami finding a hard time getting past the Sudanese full backs in Khartoum. Against South Africa in Cape Town, (credit to Bafana boss Shakes Mashaba) the team were overwhelmed by the hosts fast attacking play and fluidity and couldn’t respond in kind. In these remaining two crucial games, it is expected that the team would show real intent, with the midfielders and wingers providing the necessary supplies and the strikers tucking the balls into the net.
Cohesive defending-Agreed, the strikers aren’t scoring enough goals but it is obvious that in this Eagles poor qualification campaign, the biggest let down has been the defence. Godfrey Oboboana and Kenneth Omeruo don’t seem to really understand each other, Efe Ambrose is impressive going forward (scored a fine goal against Congo in Calabar) but show lack of concentration defensively (was at fault for allowing the cross for Abdulqadir’s goal in Khartoum) while Elderson Echejiele at left back is yet to fully regain his pre-World Cup form prior to his lengthy injury. The expectation of Nigerians is that the Eagles defence will work as a formidable unit in these two decisive games which will really go a long way in helping the team overcome the dire situation it finds itself in. It will surely be a tragedy for the reigning champions to miss out on next year’s biggest football extravaganza on the continent.