Our man Joel Musa takes a look at the Afcon 2015 Qualifier between Sudan and Nigeria.
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It was the ultimate humiliation, the sort you wouldn’t wish for your fiercest foe, the Super Eagles faced another defeat in their bid to qualify for the continental showpiece at Morocco next year.
The loss in Calabar to Congo was seen as an upset, the draw at South Africa was seen as a step out of the mire but there’s no positive spin for the dross Keshi’s charges served up against Sudan.
Granted, the pitch had more plastic than a Lego factory, the weather was sweltering and the animosity of the fans could be felt from a reasonable distance but this was the lifeline they had to take.
Earlier in the day, South Africa had won away at Congo to move to the top of the log and inadvertently made room for the Champions to claw themselves out of the doldrums.
The Eagles started the game looking assured but a lack of a cogent game plan was visible as they literally became clueless when they approached the final third, the lack of innovation and quality saw Sudan grow in confidence to take charge of the game at the half hour mark and just before the break, their No. 10, a charismatic libero, carved out a chance, sliding a ball to the left, Echiejile was left for dead and a strong cross was met by Bacary Elgadir’s determined header from close range.
Emenike and Mikel had speculative efforts and Musa missed a golden chance from a quality thru pass.
The Second Half.
The ineffective Nosa Igiebor was withdrawn. Sudan’s confidence wasn’t going to fizzle out in front of their vociferous supporters and disjointed opposition.
They continued to create half chances while staying compact at the back. Keshi responded by sending in rookie subs in the form of Sunday Emmanuel and Raheem Lawal who predictably didn’t have any noteworthy impact on the match.
Chelsea’s Mikel Obi seemed to have grabbed a draw on the 87th minute but his effort was ruled offside. Sudan held out for a memorable win over the faltering Champions of Africa.
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