http://chxta.blogspot.com/2008/01/nigeria-0-1-ivory-coast.html
So the form book was not torn up at all, and the Ivorians have taken three points from our Green Eagles. O for the days when Nigeria's national team was Super...
It is all too easy to blame Berti for the slack Eagles that we saw today, but let's face it, the man failed to justify his pay cheque with his selection, and that was where my complaints began this evening. There was no left sided midfielder in the team which began the game, and the two players who can adapt to that role (Odemwingie and Nsofor) were left on the bench. This singular selection problem ruined the game for Martins and Aiyegbeni because they spent a lot of the game ranging out to the left to pick up loose balls.
Another problem with the selection was playing Kanu in the middle, a middle containing Yaya Toure and Didier Zokora! How the hell was he expected to cope? Let's face it, Kanu simply doesn't have the legs anymore, and his best use in the context of the Green Eagles is as an impact player.
Yet another problem was the selection of Onyeka Apam to play right back. The boy is good, I accept that, but for the last two years he has been playing centre back for OGC Nice, and playing it excellently, so why put him in right back, a position he hasn't played before? And it showed. He failed to bomb forward to support Utaka (who by the way is one lazy mofo) on the right. On the left we had that problem of leaving Taiwo alone, and the boy tried. But the moment the Ivorians realised that he was all alone there, they brought on Keita, and that was that.
I now officially hate Jose Mourinho, and if the bastard is assassinated tomorrow, come and look for me. The attacking instincts that John Mikel Obi once possessed have been well and truly drilled away, and what is left is a Frank Lampard imitation. Mikel is still a good player, but he isn't mature enough to boss a midfield on his own, and it showed when Kanu was removed. Had Mikel been more mature, or more attack minded on another hand, the outcome may well have been different. Olofinjana tried his best, but he was out of his depth, and well, we've talked about Kanu before.
Being a German, I wonder why Vogts didn't opt for a 3-5-2 with Apam, Yobo and Shittu (who was immense today) in defence, Mikel-Olofinjana as holding midfielders, the pace of Utaka and Taiwo on the wings, Aiyegbeni and Martins up front, and Kanu in the 'hole' behind them. Same personnel, different implementation which I daresay would have won it.
In any event this was the tamest performance I've seen by a team wearing the hallowed Green-White-Green since that lame game against the Danes ten years ago, and it calls to question the commitment of our players. They all looked like they want to get over this shit and head back to their clubs. Seriously, could you imagine Salomon Kalou waltzing through any Nigerian defence back in the day that contained renowned hackers such as Bright Omokaro, Austin Eguavoen, Chidi Nwanu, Uche Okafor, Ben Iroha, Stephen Keshi, Andrew Uwe or even as recently as Okechukwu Uche and Taribo West? Someone would have broken his legs on the spot. There was simply no passion in the Nigerian team today, and the fact that the Ivorians could only manage a one goal victory was probably down to the fact that they have not yet blended. What rubbish? In a Naija match against a team that beat us the last time we played, the players were shaking hands with the enemy before the game??? Didn't any of them watch Zidane's headbutt? That is passion. That is the will to win. Jeez! Thunder Balogun and Muda Lawal must be turning in their graves.
Anyway, like I said months back, they'd more than likely beat us, and today, they did.