Completesports.com’s ADEBOYE AMOSU appraises the performance of Super Eagles players in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matchday five encounter against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic…
Stanley Nwabali 5/10
Looked rusty especially in the first half. The Chippa United shot stopper conceded a cheap goal and was not at his best.
Ola Aina 5/10
Not one of his best games for the Super Eagles. The Nottingham Forest man was replaced by Bright Osayi-Samuel eight minutes from time.
Gabriel Osho 4/10
A difficult debut for the the versatile centre-back. Moses Simon took his place after the break.
William Troost-Ekong 6/10
The captain had an interesting tussle with his rival Steve Mounie. William Troost-Ekong however came out tops preventing the forward from getting a goal in the game.
Calvin Bassey 4/10
The Fulham defender had a difficult game. He was constantly troubled by the lively Junior Olaitan.
Bruno Onyemaechi 6/10
One of Nigeria’s best performers on the night. The left-back had a good game especially in the first half.
Wilfred Ndidi 6/10
An above average performance from the defensive midfielder.
Read Also:2025 AFCONQ: Super Eagles Were Not Combative Against Benin –Ugbade
Alex Iwobi 5/10
Alex Iwobi struggled to impose himself in the game. He was replaced by Victor Boniface 18 minutes from time.
Kelechi Iheanacho 4/10
A below par showing from the versatile forward. He was subbed off after the break.
Ademola Lookman 4/10
Toiled hard to impress in the game. He was marked out by the visitors.
Victor Osimhen 6/10
The powerful striker missed a couple of chances but rescued a point for Nigeria with the equaliser eight minutes from time.
SUBSTITUTES
Moses Simon 5/10
The talented winger provided the assist for Victor Osimhen’s equalising goal.
Raphael Onyedika 4/10
He didn’t affect the game much following his introduction after the break.
Victor Boniface 3/10
Complimented Victor Osimhen in attack following his introduction
Bright Osayi-Samuel 2/0
Helped kept things tight at the back after replacing Ola Aina eight minutes from time.
Frank Onyeka
Not Rated
17 Comments
Maduka Okoye must start the next game. Tactically Equavoen is not the.man. We need competition in the team. However invite Cyriel Dessers, Chuba Akpom and others
Invite invite and invite, he invited osho already and we saw the outcome, you all shd free the coaches and let them do what they got paid to do.
Eguaveon, Eguaveon, Eguaveon. Four stints as Super Eagles coach, and somehow, he’s still fumbling the basics! This match against an injury-ridden Benin Republic squad should’ve been a walk in the park. But instead, we scraped out a 1-1 draw, and that only thanks to Osimhen’s last-minute header. That was a literal lifeline, not some clever tactical move on Eguaveon’s part. What’s his game plan? Set us up to struggle and then pray we get a miracle in the dying minutes?
First off, what exactly is his obsession with benching our best options in midfield? Any sane coach would know that Onyeka needs to be a priority in that lineup. The man’s a powerhouse, both as a ball-winner and a runner who can slice through opposing defenses with those quick surges. Instead, Eguaveon opts to bench him and leaves our midfield looking disjointed, as if he expects us to dominate with magic instead of sound strategy.
Now, let’s talk about Dele Bashiru versus Iwobi. Every time Dele Bashiru’s on the pitch, you feel the difference. His physicality, drive, and attacking intent are precisely what we need, especially in high-stakes games where you want players who can unsettle the opposition. But what does Eguaveon do? Benches him too. If this man were any more predictable, he’d be a human instruction manual. You can almost see the gears turning in his head: “Big name, bench him. Emerging talent, bench him. Known performers? Nah, let’s go with the inconsistent ones.”
And then, Moses Simon—our one-man playmaker and wing wizard. This guy has a natural ability to break down defenses, he’s our top assist provider, yet here he is, riding the bench. Instead, we have Iheanacho starting, looking as if he hadn’t even practiced passing in weeks. Is there a logic here? A strategy? Or is Eguaveon simply tossing names on a board and picking at random? Moses comes on, and within minutes, we see the difference. Imagine if he’d been on from the start—Benin would’ve had no answer.
The tactical issues don’t end with personnel; it’s Eguaveon’s entire approach to the game. Rohr’s game plan was clear: choke our wings and force us into uncomfortable central play. And did Eguaveon adapt? Not in the slightest. He saw his wing play neutralized, and his response was to… bench our most dynamic winger and keep Lookman out wide, even though Gasperini has long since figured out that he’s most deadly as a false 9 or a support striker. Eguaveon isn’t reading the room; he’s ignoring every blueprint that could make this team click.
Eguaveon’s tactical rigidity, poor selection choices, and lack of adaptability are actively holding this team back. His substitutions are baffling, his positioning choices seem random, and his inability to exploit even the simplest tactical hints from the opposition is glaring. The World Cup qualifiers demand a coach with vision, adaptability, and respect for the talent on this squad, and Eguaveon simply isn’t delivering.
If we’re serious about the World Cup, we need to face the facts: we’re not getting there with Eguaveon’s approach. The NFF needs to find a coach with experience, tactical intelligence, and an understanding of how to maximize a team’s strengths. Until then, we’ll keep scraping by in games we should be winning comfortably.
It was a big game to determine his suitability for the role and he flunked it. Let us not be fooled by the result we need a tactical mind for the WC qualifiers and Cerezo is not it. He shows favouritism in team selection and lacks depth tactically. He failed in the Afcon against Tunisia a few years ago and against Ghana for the last WC. We have got great players but they miss too many chances so we need a coach who will work on their conversion rate. To be fair yesterday’s match cannot be used to judge him, they practically had just one day to train together. But it is his history that tells us that he cannot do it
Don’t forget that Ghana has just 2. Points o
Officially, we don’t want to qualify for the next world cup. Peserio left us in February and we are using ages to get a suitable coach. Imagine NFF is suddenly inspired to get a world class coach now, it means when the qualifiers are over.
Well, everyone of them including the players can sponsor themselves as spectators or fans for the world cup. So, there is no urgency. Qualify or not, estacodes for officials including the so-called technical director will be made available and las las, them no go miss out on the fun fair.
You will hear FIFA is sponsoring certain officials of member associations. That’s why the current wild goose chase. Only fans will be pained especially as it will be 48 teams and at least 9, NOT 5, from the continent.
No matter how we shout ourselves hoarse, glasshouse will still do as they like because THERE ARE NO HEADS ROLLING FOR FAILURE.
Someone wrote sometime ago that God will show up for Nigeria. I laughed because he felt God of Nigeria rewards failure.
Paul wrote “I worked harder than them all, yet not I, but the grace of God at work in me” (1Cor 15:10).
Even grace like hard work. Make we dey hope say South Africa or Rwanda or Benin Republic have bad days at the office because this Osimhen-reliant Eagles with the current tactically-bereft crew, WILL NOT WIN EVEN 3 MATCHES out of 6.
Yesterday’s game was Eguavoens best 11 so we are stuck with those men. Anyway, I am not the one going to make history on the wrong side of football. Gusau is (for being a member of boards that failed to qualify Nigeria for 2 straight world cups). The players are for being practically the same set of players that prosecuted 2 failed WC conquests – first time ever.
If it happened for AFCON 2015 and 2017 (back to back failures), let WC have its own feeling.
Boni-yeye should never be invited again to play. Desser is, by far, superior to Boni yeye.
Onyeamachi’s first half performance is nothing to write home about. He was constantly giving the ball away. Calvin Bassey needs a competitor, Iwobi shouldnt be starting game. Nwabali fumbled for the first goal but I understand the slippery ball and wet field must have led to that.
For the team performance yesterday was not something to write home about believe me we still a good coach
We looked tactless and clueless. Ekong kept giving a Not-Too-Tall Lookman long balls which were not connecting and the coach kept quiet! I’m not really convinced of this Eguavoen experimentation.
The team performance yesterday was not something to write home believing me we still a good coach.
Not a coach that will invite players that are not playing in their club
If a coach can start a 5 man defence against a Benin Republic team , how many defender would he start against the likes of Spain, Argentina and the likes
Every time you blame iwobi iwobi is one of our best players if don’t understand football then learn it iwobi needs a strong midfield to function watch him in his club
I want to applaud the Super Eagles for qualifying to play in next year’s afcon and if any of you talking rubbish thinking that soccer is Eagles should get ready for selection nxtime otherwise keep quiet.
Well done boys for doing us proud..
1. The moral and the spiritual aspect is always wrong. That’s the Nigerian factor. No reward for people who deserves rewards. Inviting sodiq, ihenacho etc despite all analysis against them is wrong. And coming out to defend the madness is very wrong. We always see that mostly with local coaches. Keshi, siasia, eguavon findi etc. The reason why Nigeria is not growing despite all efforts and good policies. Moral and spiritual wrong.
2. Let’s assume eguavon tried to experiment but is it necessary? If it’s necessary then it shouldn’t be with the likes of ihenacho. Starting shirt for ihenacho??? Terrible.
3. A 352 formation is always our best formation. We have the personnel to play this formation successfully.
4.. Eguavon are you daft? Play ademola the way Atlanta plays him. Should that be difficult? Haba. If ademola is not around, Boniface can do that with Oshimen. This is still perfectly okay with the 352 formation. What is wrong with this local coaches? Are they that daft???
5. Hmmm, Moses Simon sitting in the bench???? Eguavon. Is it difficult for you to know that this boy should be starting our matches? Even Simon can play from a wing back position if aina is not around. Simon is top in confidence at this moment but we are wasting this moment for him.
6. I think we should have settled with the iwobi issue now. Play iwobi only from the wings. Let him always come in. Bashir is the man for that position. I even prefer onyemschi in the midfield instead of iwobi. Maybe we can manage iwobi in a 352 with ndidi, Bashir. But not in a 433.
7. We shouldn’t judge Osho with this. Let give him another chance.
8. Something tells me we can’t discard Boniface. We have to let him be around. When he gets to his element we will enjoy him. But please let ihenacho face his club football.
9. Eguavon give one of other strikers the chance – arokodare, dessrr, akpom.
10. Some people are asking for rohr to come back. Come back to where. If we are getting a coach it should not be rohr. We had many off days with him too. I beg he is not the solution in any way.
I want to applaud the Super Eagles for qualifying to play in next year’s afcon and if any of you talking rubbish thinking that soccer is easy,should get ready for selection nxtime otherwise keep quiet.
Well done boys for doing us proud..
There are only few super eagles you can truthfully and correctly called ‘ World Class’ the rest can be termed average or having great potential to become world class. Let’s analyze it
1. Nwabali – is not world class
2. Okoye- potential to become world class
3. Obasogie- average
4. Aina- potential to become world class
5. Bruno- average
6. Bright – average
7. Zaidu- average
8. Collins- average
9. Ekong- average
10. Ajayi – average
11. Bassey – great potential to become world class
12. Awaziem- average
13. Omeruo- average
14. Osho- average
15. Akpoguma- average
16. Ndidi – he has the potential to urgently move above average because age is not on his side
17. Iwobi. Potential to become a world class player
18. Onyeka – average
19. Onyedika – great potential to become a world class player
20. Dele-Bashiru- great potential to become world class
21. Alhassan- average
22. Chukwueze- great potential to become a serious world class player
23. Moses Simon – little above average
24. Iheanacho – wasted potentials which leaves him in an average level
25. Victor Boniface. Little above average with great potential to become a world class player in no distant time
26. Victor Osimhen. A world class player with still plenty of room to become world best
27. Umar Sadiq. An average player
28. Dessers- an average player
29. Lookman. A world class player that is peaking and at this level may surpass expectations
30.Ojuke- a little above average with potentials to exceed expectations
This ratings are purely based on performance of players, statistics, FIFA ratings and rankings and personal observation as one who has great knowledge of the game.
P.E.A.O.U. – M.A