Kickoff: January 16, 16:00 GMT, Benguela Stadium The Nigerians go into this game knowing that only a victory against Benin will do, as they look to stay alive in the Africa Cup of Nations. A win is also neccessary to appease their fans back home who are already calling for the heads of the team’s officials and the federation’s administrators.
Losing 3-1 to defending champions Egypt on opening day was the most scandalous loss for the team in over a decade. Shuaibu Amodu's men looked slow against the Pharaohs and they know now that they cannot afford to be slack any longer otherwise they will be taking the first flight home from Angola on Thursday morning as their last match against Mozambique will be of no significance.
The fear of failure and what awaits the players at home will be sure to spur the Nigerians on to fight for a victory against a Benin side that they have twice beaten in the Nations Cup, in Tunisia and recently in Ghana when they badly needed a win to secure passage to the quarter-finals when all hope seemed lost. They will hope that luck does not desert them this time around as the Benin team is eager to turn the tables against them.
Squirrels spoiling for a fight Having never won a match in the Nations Cup, Benin will hope that they can draw on the confidence gained from earning a point against Mozambique on Tuesday. The Squirrels may have a spring in the step as they prepare to face the Super Eagles who have always dominated their meetings at the Nations Cup.
The Squirrel’s 2-2 draw with the Mambas was the first point they have picked up in the tournament. And their two goals made it a total of three they have scored in all that time. With this feat in the back of their minds, Benin will know they can beat the floundering Eagles who are having problems in defence.
Michel Dussuyer’s lads know that this is a good time to beat their next-door neighbours because the Eagles’ big name players are low in confidence.
TEAM NEWS Nigeria
Amodu is expected to make changes to the team that lost 3-1 to Egypt by dropping defenders Taye Taiwo, Yusuf Mohamed and Obinna Nwaneri as he will give starting places to Elderson Echiejile, Chidi Odiah and Onyekachi Apam. Obafemi Martins is out of the team to treat his recurring shin injury but Osaze Odemwingie will look to make a start against the Squirrels after recovering from the flu.
Benin Dussuyer has said he will be looking to the services of his Nigerian-born duo of Razak Omotoyossi and Mouri Ogunbiyi to trouble the Super Eagles defence. Omotoyossi has said that he looks forward to scoring against the country of his birth and this may be the time to fulfill that ambition.
Players To Watch Chinedu Obasi – Nigeria The star man in Nigeria’s first game, Obasi brought a lot of pace to the Eagles strike force as he consistently troubled the Egyptian back four. He will be a handful for the Benin defence.
Razak Omotoyossi – Benin Omotoyossi will hope he can get his 16th goal in 30 international matches for Benin against his country of birth. The resourceful striker has been a constant threat to defenders throughout the tournament.
Your comments on this story...
Before the advent of the present coach, Taiwo has been seen as one of our better players. He was the third best player in Holland 2005 where he scored and created goals for the team under Siasia who knows that Taiwo can not be expected to return back immediately after over-lapping to help in the attack. Anytime he overlapped, he was covered by Ajilore or Kaita and not the centre half. Last year, Taiwo was voted into the French League Team of the Season as the best left fullback in the whole league, the same player that has suddenly become bad under Amodu. Arguably, there is no better African left back in Europe than Taiwo.
By asking Taiwo not to overlap again or substituting him with another player who will not overlap, you are cutting down on the attacking potentials of our team. Instead, he should be encouraged to support the attack since we play without a conventional left winger. When he does, he should be covered by one of the numerous defensive midfielders in the team and not one of the centre halves. This is the way modern fullbacks operate now and another example in our team now is Chidi Odiah. So I wonder if he would also be blamed when he plays and overlaps without any of the defensive midfielders covering for him. Come to think of it, our defensive midfielders add little or nothing to our attack and they fail to cover the fullbacks when they overlap, what then is their usefullness in the team?
I observed that Nwaneri was the one covering Taiwo in our last match and this should not be so as it would create a hole in our defence. I think the Egyptian bench noticed this lapse and utilised it to their advantage. Just before they scored their equaliser, Taiwo had powered down their right side of defence, leaving their right back miserably out-paced and squared the ball to Uche who unfortunately hit the post with his shot. If he had scored, that would have been game over for the Egyptians because at that time we were dominating the match and full of confidence. The Egyptians sent a long ball into our area, catching our defenders napping with some postions (including Taiwo's) uncovered. When he made that run to create the goal chance, he should have ben covered by Ayila or Etuhu. This is where the problem lies and not with Taiwo's overlapping runs.
Every good coach will always maximise the strength of his players and minimize the effects of their weaknesses. Taiwo's pace and power shots should be maximized to the benefit of our team and not the other way round. He has been playing like this with fantastic results in Lobi Stars, Marsielle, Flying Eagles under Siasia, etc so why can't his runs and shots profit the Super Eagles now? There is clearly an organisational deficiency in the team and this should be corrected before our next match instead of "throwing away the baby with the dirty water".
Apam interview. I till wonder how this our coaches select their teams. One more change, Matins for Ayegbeni.
Odia..........Yobo..........Apam..........Echejile
...............Etuhu ………..Ayila
………………..Mikel
…..Obasi……………………. Osazie
……………….Matins
Apam interview. I till wonder how this our coaches select their teams. One more change, Matins for Ayegbeni.
Odia..........Yobo..........Apam..........Echejile
...............Etuhu ………..Ayila
………………..Mikel
…..Obasi……………………. Osazie
……………….Matins
I can bet on this staring line-up to get to the finals.
I think Amodu needs to see a Psychiatric his team selection can obviously tell.
Apam interview. I till wonder how this our coaches select their teams. One more change, Matins for Ayegbeni.
Odia..........Yobo..........Apam..........Echejile
...............Etuhu ………..Ayila
………………..Mikel
…..Obasi……………………. Osazie
……………….Matins
I can bet on this staring line-up to get to the finals.
I think Amodu needs to see a Psychiatric his team selection can obviously tell.
Formation: 4-2-3-1.
Goalkeeper: Vincent Enyeama.
Right Wing Back: Chidi Odiah (if fit)
Left Wing Back: Taye Taiwo
Central Defence: Joseph Yobo and Onyekachi Apam.
Defensive Midfield: Mikel Obi and Dickson Etuhu.
Right Attacking Midfield: Chinedu Obasi.
Left Attacking Midfield: Osaze Odemwengie (if fit)
Central Attacking Misfield(behind the striker): Kalu Uche
Centre Forward: Obafemi Martins (if fit)
Coach: Amodu Shaibu (if fit).
Amodu and co. are the problem not our players.
nelson4u.
Don't you have any shame? You never cease to embara.s.s yourself, is it so important to attract attention to yourself that you don't care how stupid you look?
Everyone laughs at you, save yourself further embaressment
Change your name and return with sensible contributions..i just can't believe you're that stupid.
For your sake prove me and everyone else wrong.