Nigeria’s poor run in international friendlies continued on Tuesday evening as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Algeria at the Miloud Hadefi Stadium in Oran.
NigeriaSoccernet.com presents the five observations made from the loss.
1. Questionable Officiating : This is not to exonerate the Super players who has a below par performance against the north Africans but some of the calls made by the referee were surprising to state the least.
2. Algerians Pressing Game : The Algerians, like their Nigerian rivals, will not be heading to the FIFA World Cup but they showed dedication and hunger lacking on the Nigerian side.
They harried the Nigerians and pressed them to submission proving to be more dominant side both technically and physically.
3. Fans’ Antics : Like most North African supporters, the fans were at the stadium in their numbers with the game sold out.
The bad part of it is the continued beaming of the laser light on the faces of rival players and coaches. CAF, Confederations and FIFA should clamp down on offending fans and teams.
4. The Eagles Attack : With the absence of Victor Osimhen, it seed the Eagles won’t bark or bite and it proved almost the same as they struggled against an organized Algerian backline.
After an initial early threat by the goal of Terem Moffi, the Eagles rarely stretched the hosts’ defence.
5. Peseiro’s Substitutions : It was a friendly after all but Jose Peseiro only brought on four substitutes from the bench.
Three of the four players were introduced match quite late in the game.
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