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A Must Win!
By Toyin | September 5, 2009
We can set a marker of our intention to be in South Africa next year or stay back to watch the event on television by whatever happens tomorrow in Abuja when we face the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in an absolutely critical world cup qualifier. The Tunisians are top of the group with seven points while we are not far behind with five. If we, by any complicity drop any point tomorrow, we might as well forget about the World Cup; it’s as simple as that!
I never, in my wildest imagination, thought that Nigeria would not be in Germany for the 2006 but it happened. A combination of technical incompetence, indiscipline, politics and money did us in. We brought our Europe based players to battle their Angolan counterparts in the scorching sun in Kano and the rest is history.
Tomorrow presents us a great opportunity to put our qualification right in our hands instead of depending on useless permutations of what happens to our group opponents. We can do it and in style too!
With fitness, dedication, preparedness, suitability and tactical acumen, I see no reason why the Carthage Eagles should not fall to ours, which are by the way, super. The good thing is that for the past year or so, the Football Federation seems to have put its house in order except for the unresolved case of the stolen money from the glass house. There’s not been too much hullaballoo about match bonuses, ticket refunds etc. we’ve not heard of players been thrown out of hotels due to non settlement of bills.
Even the stars themselves seem to be determined to forestall the mistakes of the past by reporting to camp on time. They know very well that Nigerians would never forgive them if they bungle this opportunity of making our country shine in SA 2010. In a nut shell; they are set to do us proud and we are all right behind them in this.
The technical team must be up and doing during this match. I won’t be surprised if the Tunisians play a defensive formation to thwart any offensive tactics. And they do have in the team a very mobile forward in Ali Zitouni who can do us harm on the counter if our defenders are not on their toes. I was particularly impressed with his ball control, mobility and quick thinking when we played the first leg at the Rades Stadium in Tunisia.
While we cannot afford to sit back in this tie, we must also be wary of fast counter attacks from our opponents. They have shown they are good on the ball and strong in the challenge too. The key to unlocking their defense is to make wing plays a major tool. But not high crosses into their box which they easily dealt with last time. Our players must draw their central defensive pair out through both wing and lateral passes and then we can look for that final pass to release our players.
At this juncture, it is very important that we must take our chances. We cannot afford to be profligate in the front of goal neither can we afford to waste gilt edged opportunities to put the ball in the net. It is a very important encounter and it must not be messed up.
Nigeria
Goalkeepers: Austin Ejide (Bastia), Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv/), Dele Aiyenugba (Bnei-Yehuda)
Defenders: Onyekachi Apam (Nice), Elderson Echiejile (Rennes), Adefemi Olubayo (Boulogne), Taye Taiwo (Olympique Marseille) Joseph Yobo (Everton),Dele Adeleye (Sparta Rotterdam), Oluwafemi Ajilore (Groningen), Obinna Nwaneri (FC Sion)
Midfielders: John Mikel Obi (Chelsea), Sani Kaita (Rubin Kazan),Yusuf Ayila (Dynamo Kiev),Seyi Olofinjana (Hull City), Kalu Uche (Almeria)
Strikers: Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth),Chinedu Ogbuke (Hoffenheim) Osaze Odemwingie (Locomotiv Moscow), Obinna Nsofor (Malaga), Michael Eneramo (Esperance), Ikechukwu Uche (Real Zaragoza), John Utaka (Portsmouth)
Tunisia
Goalkeepers: Hamdi Kasraoui (Lens), Aymen Mathlouthi (Etoile), Jacem Khaloufi (Sfaxien)
Defenders: Aymen Abdennour (Etoile), Sofian Chahed (Hannover), Radhouane Felhi (1860 Munich), Saif Ghzel (Young Boys), Karim Hagui (Hannover), Bilel El-Ifa (CA), Ammar Jemal (Etoile), Khaled Soussi (CA), Yassine Mikari (Sochaux)
Midfielders: Fahid Ben Khalfallah (Valenciennes), Chaouki Ben Saada (Nice), Oussema Darragi (Esperance), Zouhaier Dhaouadi (CA), Chedy Hammami (Sfaxien), Khaled Korbi (Esperance), Haythem Mrabet (Sfaxien), Nabil Taider (Xanthi), Houcine Ragued (Slavia Prague)
Strikers: Sami Allagui (Greuther Furth), Issam Jemâa (Lens), Ali Zitouni (Anatalyaspor)
My preferred line up:
Vincent Enyeama
‘Femi Olubayo Joseph Yobo Dele Adeleye Elderson Echiejiele
Seyi Olofinjana
Mikel Kalu Uche Osaze
Uche Okechukwu Mike Enaremo
Head to Head:
Played won lost Drawn Goals (Favour) Goals (Against) Aggregate
Nigeria 16 4 6 6 13 21 -8
Tunisia 16 6 4 6 21 13 +8
I hope luck also smiles on us tomorrow as we take a giant step towards reclaiming what’s rightfully ours; the topmost echelon of African football and 2-0 win won’t be bad too!
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Topics: Biz Football, Crazy Fans, Nigerian Football, Success Pills, Who Will Win |
September 7th, 2009 at 11:10 am
How painful to see the world cup ticket gradually blowing away.Defending a goal lead became an unachievable feat for the SUPER EAGLES.I pray for a miracle.
September 7th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
What a calamity! Leading with just 4 minutes left and yet conceeding-unpardonable. Surely, the world cup is a mirage now!
September 7th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I am just short of words to describe this! It would take a miracle now for us to qualify-What a precarious situation we’ve got ourselves into again…….
September 8th, 2009 at 9:09 am
i still can’t understand why we have decided to dim our chances of qualifying for SA 2010 again. in short, i don’t know what to say