Stephen Keshi's decision to start Odemwingie proved to be inspired as he and Emenike ran the show against Bosnia
So the Super Eagles finally did it, eh? For the first time since France ’98 (my favourite World Cup, though this one is giving it a good run), the Nigerian national team has won a game at the Mundial. If that doesn’t swing it in favour of Brazil 2014, what will?
The starting line-up featured a surprise selection with Michael Babatunde starting in the hole, though he, Ahmed Musa and Odemwingie often interchanged. Captain Joseph Yobo was brought in for the injured Godfrey Oboabona.
Safet Susic made two alterations: out went Sead Kolasinac and Ermin Bicakcic, in came Toni Sunjic and Haris Medujanin. Zvjezdan Misimovic played on the left with Miralem Pjanic in the hole.
Nigeria just about deserved the win on the balance of play, but profited from a terrible decision from the assistant referee at 0-0, and had goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama to thank for a super save at the death.
The plan was clear from the Super Eagles: sit deep-ish and counter-attack into the channels with great pace. I noted pre-game:
With Babatunde Michael, usually a winger, in the hole behind Emmanuel Emenike, there is an indication the Super Eagles’ strategy will be based on quick transitions, rather than careful build-up. Look for the team to allow Bosnia’s centre-backs, who are limited technically, have the ball before pressing the pass into midfield aggressively.
The Bosnian centre-backs are susceptible to pace: Emir Spahic is a feisty captain who is no stranger to disciplinary problems, while Ermin Bicakcic is not overly mobile. If the pressing is properly executed, the Super Eagles may have joy running at that defence.
The lack of technical quality in the Bosnian defence meant Haris Medunjanin had an important role to fulfil dropping deep to take the ball off the centre-backs. However, he seemed uncharacteristically shaky in possession, and was booked for a foul on Ahmed Musa when he undersold a simple square pass.
Babatunde | Stepped into the Breach
Of course, the fact the CSKA Moscow forward was in a central position with a Bosnia attack only developing was indicative of a pattern in the game. The Bosnian defence was incredibly high up the pitch, and faced a twin threat in both full-back positions. On their left, Osaze Odemwingie dropped deep to receive the ball to feet while Emmanuel Emenike pulled off into the channel. On the opposite flank, Ahmed Musa was stretching the play horizontally with quicksilver arching runs in behind from outside-to-in.
The first time he got in behind, but failed to control a raking pass from Odemwingie to set up a one-on-one opportunity. The second time he narrowly missed a fizzing delivery across the box. His pace was clearly an outlet.
The downside here was that in playing so high, Musa was unable to help out his full-back Juwon Oshaniwa, who got double and even triple-teamed and passed around. Muhamed Besic was brave with his positioning, breaking forward past John Obi Mikel, whose ball retention and positioning were dire.
There is a sharpness lacking in Mikel’s play, and his turn-overs caused numerous problems between the lines. Ogenyi Onazi is not a natural holder and gets drawn out too easily. Bosnia will rightly feel aggrieved with the offside call on Edin Dzeko’s goal; it demonstrated the lack of compactness in the midfield zone of the Super Eagles.
As the game settled, Musa was instructed to sit deeper and afford Oshaniwa some aid, so Emenike became the outlet. For his bulk, the Fenerbahce man is really more about aggressive running than brute strength and enjoys pulling out the flank to isolate his marker. He set up the one real opening against Iran this way but did not pick the pass right, this time there was no mistake. Odemwingie found him in the channel, he powered past Emir Spahic and cut back for Nigerian football’s ‘Prodigal Son’ to finish past his club teammate.
Odemwingie | The Prodigal Son returns...Keshi vindicated?
That was a bit of a one-off though; generally Nigeria struggled to get runners close to Emenike, leaving him frequently isolated. Babatunde should have worked harder in this regard, but he was a willing runner and his passing was always simple and progressive, keeping the tempo high when it was needed.
For the second game running, Safet Susic made substitutions that disrupted his own team. Three introductions all within ten minutes is not very healthy for balance, surely incremental changes are the way to go.
The Super Eagles defended deep and narrow and bar a heart-stopping moment at the death when Dzeko swivelled and hit the post via Enyeama, were comfortable in the end.
A few headline performances: Emenike shone doing what he excels at; Odemwingie took his goal well and was intelligent in transitions and passing; and Kenneth Omeruo was faultless at the back. Stephen Keshi sent out a message to Victor Moses, refusing to turn to him when Babatunde came off in the second half with a knock. The onus is on Moses to fight for his place, something he really has not had to do since he made the decision to represent Nigeria in 2011.
The win was of the essence, and with this Nigeria moves up to four points. A draw against Argentina on the 25th in Porto Alegre will definitively settle things; a loss would still do it, but that would depend on Iran not beating Bosnia.
The Super Eagles are masters of their own destiny though, and showed tremendous improvement befitting a Keshi team. He must now fix a midfield lacking proper structure, but it is a credit to the team that they won even without it.
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