I was hoping for a performance. After the poor display at altitude in the first leg, escaping with a narrow victory; I looked for the Eagles to put forth a commanding display and soar rather than limp to Brazil. It was not to be, and as the game wore on and the finishing line got closer, INDIVIDUALS rather than a TEAM began to take prominence. Too many players tried to force the issue and just WILL the ball to go into the net. I didn't like it and vented my frustration in my post vid, but as I suspected and King Keshi confirmed; the boys were indeed nervous.
I am sure King Keshi wanted Nigeria to give a great display. It's what you would hope from the better team and the African Champions. However, you can never deny the impact nerves can have in a match. Even great teams can be nervous and anxious. That is what happened. Before the first goal, Nigeria dominated and really took the game to the Ethiopians thanks to Onazi. It was only after that fortuitous penalty, being dispatched cooly by Moses, that Nigeria fell back. They knew they had the lead, and it was all about getting the result and not being too hasty. The game became slower and dragged with only a few flashes of the quick attacking passes and movement we have grown to admire from the Eagles.
But, all that matters is the result. Nigeria have booked their ticket to Brazil and Keshi can now start to officially plan for that tournament. He will know that despite the unbeaten run in qualifying, there are still aspects to work on. As nice as it is to have a first team that knows and trust each other, with a chemistry building up, there needs to be competition. I am not one to bring in Europe based players because of their, "experience". There are other players though at junior level who I feel can make that step up. Keshi needs to start looking at alternatives and MUST use these friendlies to blend the known with the unknown. Fine, the Eagles did not play pretty and got the result. Now they have that result, it's time to get back to bringing back that beautiful football and what I like to call the "show am leg" Nigerian style of playing.
The Eagles are through to Brazil. It's a relief but I don't want them to just make up the numbers. The green, white and green jersey has history that Keshi will know all too well. Keshi must use all these months to construct a SQUAD that can go all the way. That must be the objective, no matter how hard...to WIN the World Cup.
HH
