By Nelson Dafe on November 17, 2015

Nothing but victory today is good enough for Nigeria as the Super Eagles clash with visiting Swaziland in the second leg of their FIFA World Cup qualifier at the Adokiye Amiesiamaka Stadium in Port Harcourt. The winner on aggregate will move to the group stage of the qualifiers.

Two days ago, Coach Sunday Oliseh saw his boys struggle badly as they fired blank away to Swaziland.

The Eagles looked more composed with possession in the first half, with Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi and Sylvester Igboun probing patiently, but the met a resolute Swaziland team who defended compactly and threatened with swift counters.

The hosts’ goalkeeper was called into action midway into the first half as he made a superb double save to deny Onazi and Odion Ighalo from scoring from two close range strikes.

Chances were few and far in between as Nigeria lacked the needed incision to pry open the determined minnows.

The Eagles are very much a team in transition under Oliseh and this was clearly evident in the second half as the new Super Eagles coach began to ring the changes.

The substitutions looked largely experimental. First, creative midfielder Rabiu Ibrahim came in at half time for Igboun. But after some minutes he too was substituted with Kelechi Iheanacho when he struggled to make an impact as the Eagles adopted a hurried long ball approach to the strikers.

Then the bizzarre change of the evening came when, with about 20 minutes left to play, Oliseh threw in Martins Obafemi for midfielder Mikel. It was a substitution that looked a positive one in search of the away goal. But it proved a dangerous one as Martins was tasked to drop deep to provide support for Iheanacho and Onazi, who were left to anchor the midfield.

Without the ball-keeping ability of Mikel the Eagles lost the midfield battle and Swaziland became braver in the late stages, surging forward to score what would have been a historic winner.

Oliseh and his boys will have to do better this evening in the Garden City if Nigeria is t continue the march to Russia. Kick-off time is 4pm.

•Photo shows Super Eagles goalie Carl Ikeme on duty.

Source Daily Sports

Posted November 17, 2015

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