goal.com
Given a chance to redeem themselves, neither Tunde Adeniji nor Jamiu Alimi repaid their boss's faith as Guinea stunned the favourites.
Despite the mathematical possibility of it, the prospect of a Nigeria elimination on Tuesday evening was not a very real one. Having won the game they might have been expected to, and drawn a game they might have been excused for losing, progression seemed a given.
Instead, Guinea produced a first-half performance of great quality to invert the group standings and send the Super Eagles home.
It wasn’t much by way of creating shot opportunities, but some of their quick passing in midfield was terrific. Nigeria made it easy though; poor spatial distribution combined with a lack of staggering in pressing saw Paul Onobi and Ifeanyi Matthew too easily bypassed, as the Syli Nationale worked the ball expertly up the pitch.
Sunday Oliseh’s side based their play around interceptions and countering, but their lack of proper spacing denied access to the ball too often. When they did get it due to occasional sloppiness on the part of the Guinean side, the direct running of Osas Okoro and Usman Mohammed’s dribbling led to some free-kicks in interesting positions.
The decision to start Tunde Adeniji upfront was indubitably the correct one, but the Sunshine Stars striker let himself down with an anonymous display. Having been caught frequently offside in the opening game against Niger, here it was the opposite: Adeniji made no runs at all—Nigeria were not flagged offside in the entire game.
Neither, for that matter, were Guinea, even though they might have been just seconds before opening the scoring late in the first half. Jamiu Alimi, also putting in a return appearance after a forgettable showing earlier in the tournament, was caught behind the defensive line playing Guinea onside. What followed was a comedy of positioning: neither dropping onto the line to cover the advancing Ezenwa, nor placing himself in the right place for the eventual cutback.
Was Oliseh's lack of local knowledge exposed vs. Guinea?
If Oliseh’s personnel choices pre-game let the team down, his decision to make his second substitution at half-time was rather more an indictment of himself. Only a goal down, and needing a draw to progress, it seemed odd that he decided to cull Onobi and introduce Chisom Chikatara, going straightaway to a 4-4-2.
A central midfield of Ifeanyi Matthew and Bature Yaro could have been severely overrun, but the goal seemed to encumber Guinea: the marginal benefit of getting another was not great enough to encourage further adventure, they judged.
They were hardly troubled defensively though. Chikatara and Bright Onyedikachi – on for Adeniji – seemed not to understand how a strike partnership ought to function, and took up very high and static central positions. Considering the Super Eagles were already light in midfield, it was asking a lot of Yaro to connect both departments; it was instructive he gave away a couple of fouls trying to make up too much ground up the pitch.
There have been suggestions that Oliseh might have been better served not handling the team, having not seen a lot of local league football himself. This argument has merit, but there were practical lessons for the young coach to learn here, especially regarding his decision-making in match situations.
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