{"id":366828,"date":"2011-04-04T10:05:29","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T10:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/04\/nigeria-can-super-eagles-sustain-its-flash-of-champions\/"},"modified":"2011-04-04T10:05:29","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T10:05:29","slug":"nigeria-can-super-eagles-sustain-its-flash-of-champions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/04\/nigeria-can-super-eagles-sustain-its-flash-of-champions\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria: Can Super Eagles Sustain its Flash of Champions?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nDaily Independent<\/a> (Lagos)\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tony Ezimakor<\/p>\n

2 April 2011<\/p>\n

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analysis<\/p>\n

Abuja \u2014 Three consecutive victories by Coach Samson Siasia, two within a space 48 hours and the excitement is already hitting rooftops. Fans of the senior national team, the Super Eagles, are already in frenzy across the land and ecstatic at sudden turn of events.<\/p>\n

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Barely one year or so ago, under Coach Shuaibu Amodu and the sacked administration of former helmsmen of the Nigeria Football Association, it was habitual for the Eagles to glide at very low altitudes no matter how lowly the opposition. Scoring goals was drudgery even for tested marksmen like Ikechukwu Uche, the Real Zaragoza FC of Spain linchpin. The situation got so bad that a Nigerian allegedly entered the Guinness Book of Records for pulling the worst miss in the history of football. But all that seems to have changed or disappeared; or so it seemed with event of the past week.<\/p>\n

Renowned for his attacking brand of football, Siasia, who last year kick-started his national team coaching career with a 2-0 against Sierra Leone, got close to the head of the wind as he unleashed four attackers at the Antelopes and the result was an instantaneous celebration.<\/p>\n

Peter Utaka, young brother of John Utaka opened his goals haul for the Eagles with a brace against Ethiopia, the first coming right at the blast whistle. That pattern was repeated against Kenya Harambbee stars two days later by pace winger, Ahmed Musa, who caught the Kenyans napping in the second minute of their friendly contest.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But it was not an easy game for Coach Siasia and his lads. As a matter of fact, the 4-0 score line did not tell the entire story of the match. The Ethiopians caused a scare or two of their own as they held tight their control of the midfield for the entire duration of the first half. It took the introduction of recuperating Osaze Odemwegie, Ike Uche and some tactical adjustment especially in the midfield area before the Eagles could stamp their authority and gain a measure of respite from the resilient Ethiopians.<\/p>\n

Old customer, Ike Uche, turned in a brace, his second from over 20 yards. The trademark strike was an icing on the cake in the floodlight encounter that was watched by estimated 20,000. Yet for many of the fans, the result was not too convincing. Even Coach Siasia knows that the team has to improve and quickly too, if he is to retain the confidence of teeming supporters.<\/p>\n

Fielding questions from reporters shortly after the encounter, Siasia noted that pulling four past the tireless Ethiopians was no easy feat but added that the team would need to improve especially in the midfield in subsequent matches.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“We scored four goals, it is not easy especially that this is the first competitive encounter with the team. The boys should be commended; we have to celebrate the goals and improve in subsequent matches,” he stated.<\/p>\n

The team did improve in the friendly match played at the same venue 48 hours later. And this was remarkable because many fans that watched the two matches adjudged the Kenyan national team a more difficult side even though it went down 3-0. Again in that encounter, the Super Eagles scored early in the game but finished second half on a low. As was the case in the Nations Cup qualifier against Ethiopia, the second half again witnessed marked improvement with Ike Uche, Anichebe and Ahmed Musa all grabbing a goal each.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Perhaps it was in the midfield that the work of the coach Samson Siasia -led crew showed. Mikel Obi and gifted Inter Milan star Joel Obi showed better understanding as they screwed the midfield a bit tight for the Kenyans while keeping possession. The sustained pressure as a result was noteworthy as well.<\/p>\n

Can Siasia sustain the winning streak? Siasia himself believes that the team can only get better considering that it was able score seven goals in two games while keeping clean slate.<\/p>\n

“Scoring seven goals in two matches in three days is not just easy. It shows that the players are responding to the way we want them to play and I tell you, we can get better. We are rebuilding the team. If you watch the first match there was a lot of space in the midfield but in the game against Kenya we closed this while keeping possession of the ball. So we have to play the same set of players to see how they respond to the new pattern,” he stated<\/p>\n

His views were echoed by ex-international Mutiu Adepoju, who applauded the performance of Joel Obi and Ike Uche. He maintained that the fact that Obi was just making his competitive debut for the national team is clear sign that he has a lot to contribute to the Super Eagles.<\/p>\n

The 3SC general manger however said that the team must play more matches to achieve better understanding and blending.<\/p>\n

With the performance of the players and effective substitutions made by the crew in the two matches, football buffs were generally of the opinion that Siasia may have indeed begun the process of building a national team that will really challenge the best in world football. And for a long time now the Super Eagles has not been so blessed with the array of young players now available to the national team handlers.<\/p>\n

Much of the problem in the squad is more of that selection rather than quality. One area though that has often remained a source of concern has been the defence. But with the clean slate in the three games and the likelihood that Sunderland defence may be that of selection ace may eventually team up with the Super Eagles, the sky may be the limit for the new look Eagles.<\/p>\n

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\nNigeria: Can Super Eagles Sustain its Flash of Champions?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daily Independent (Lagos) Tony Ezimakor 2 April 2011 analysis Abuja \u2014 Three consecutive victories by Coach Samson Siasia, two within a space 48 hours and the excitement is already hitting rooftops. Fans of the senior national team, the Super Eagles, are already in frenzy across the land and ecstatic at sudden turn of events. Barely one year or so ago, under Coach Shuaibu Amodu and the sacked administration of former helmsmen of the Nigeria Football Association, it was habitual for the Eagles to glide at very low altitudes no matter how lowly the opposition. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-366828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nNigeria: Can Super Eagles Sustain its Flash of Champions? - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/04\/nigeria-can-super-eagles-sustain-its-flash-of-champions\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Nigeria: Can Super Eagles Sustain its Flash of Champions? - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Daily Independent (Lagos) Tony Ezimakor 2 April 2011 analysis Abuja \u2014 Three consecutive victories by Coach Samson Siasia, two within a space 48 hours and the excitement is already hitting rooftops. 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