Nigeria's quest to qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations commences today against Congo DR. The Super Eagles would want to emerge a...
Nigeria's quest to qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations commences today against Congo DR.
The Super Eagles would want to emerge as one of the two teams from the group to gain a spot in Morocco next year,but they will first of all have to scale the Congolese hurdle.
Being African champions alone,entails that there is no plausible explanation why Nigeria shouldn't qualify and defend their title.
Not like it is not possible for a champion to fail in a qualification bid for the next competition,it doesn't bode of the team because the first the first effort will look like a fluke.
With all the crises that have bedeviled Nigerian football,ranging from the leadership tussle at the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) to the uncertainty whether Stephen Keshi remains the coach of the team,the Super Eagles had enough recipe to even fail.
Keshi had to be drafted in just about two weeks to the game against Congo DR,after the Sports minister,Tammy Danagogo pleaded with him to see out these matches with the assurance that his contract will be renewed.
Nigeria will first play against Congor DR and then travel Cape Town to play South Africa.
South Africa are now the early pacesetters of the group,having secured a 3-0 away victory in Omdurman against Sudan.
So the Super Eagles will now be under pressure to make home advantage count,when they take to the pitch against the Congolese.
How They Will Play
It is Stephen Keshi so the Eagles will line up in a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2 hybrid formation with Ahmed Musa and Sone Aluko making up the front three with main striker, Emmanuel Emenike to put more pressure on the Congolese.
What will be a challenge for Keshi is the fact that Ogenyi Onazi is not fully fit so he must anchor the defence with either of Joel Obi or Ramon Azeez. Recent matches indicate that Keshi should use Azeez but there is a bad history between Mikel and Azeez from the 2014 World Cup.
For Congo’s coach, the task is simple, load the midfield and tell the full backs not to overlap until the Eagles have become weary in attacking.
Congo's star man Tresor Mputu |
Stephen Keshi has promised that the NFF brouhaha will not affect his players as they ‘have promised to do their business on the pitch’ and they need to start on a good note because South Africa already have three points by reason of their 3-0 over Sudan in Khartoum on Friday night.
Players to watch:
*John Obi Mikel (Nigeria)
* Tresor Mputu (Congor DR)
Time for the match :
* 5pm (Nigerian time)
Venue
* UJ Esuene Stadium (Calabar)
Head to Head clash:
Games won: 1 (Nigeria)
Games drawn: 0
Games lost: 0
Prediction: Nigeria 2-0 Congo