Nigeria beat Benin 3-0 in Uyo on Saturday, but I am sure you all know this by now, so it is not what I want to tell you in this piece.
There were however, five things that stood out for me as I watched the game at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
The Super Eagles can play when they want to
Super Eagles can play when they want to, and the performance on the day got people talking. Why was the football fluid, and not the dreadful football of the previous games against Guinea and South Africa?
How come Nigeria scored three goals against Benin, something that has not happened in the last 15 games? The boys played with more zest and they wanted to win this one. There was nothing in it. Sometimes, you just come to the party and that was the day they did come to the party. It was not like they refused to play well previously, but sometimes, you raise your game, and it is a combination of factors. It was not like the Super Eagles would never win another game.
In Fisayo Dele Bashiru, a gem is born
Nigerians saw what Fisayo Dele-Bashiru could do when he played against South Africa a few months ago, even though he could not complete that game and was also out against Benin. In him, a gem seems to have been born. His midfield play was fluid, forward moving and he seemed to know how to hold the midfield together, push the team forward and dictate play, something that has been lacking in the team before now. The midfield of the Eagles seemed even better after Raphael Onyedika replaced Wilfred Ndidi.
Nigerians love Victor Osimhen, and he delivered on the money
Nigerians love Victor Osimhen, they showed it and he knows it.
The word on the lips of a lot of Nigerians in Uyo was Victor Osimhen and quite a number asked if Osimhen was going to play and wanted him to play because they thought he had a goal or two in him. The wild applause when he began to warm up was the same as on the eve of the game when he strutted onto the pitch for the team’s final training session. When he came on in the 72nd minute to replace Victor Boniface it was wild at the stadium, and finally, when he scored, the roof of the stadium could have blown off. Victor Osimhen is Nigeria’s poster boy and delivered on the money with that well-taken goal.
Victor Boniface is not there yet
Victor Boniface did not score or threaten in the time he played. As a centre forward, he spent more time going behind to retrieve the ball rather than lurking around the penalty area waiting for balls to come his way. Was it because he did not see the midfield of Ndidi, Iwobi, Aina and Onyemaechi feeding him? But every time he fell back to pick up balls from his midfield, he left a hole in attack which was hardly filled by anyone. These did not happen when Osimhen was on the pitch. The coaches will have to learn how to use Boniface and Osimhen in a twin-striker formation or leave one out of the starting lineup completely for the other.
Eguavoen, to stay or not to stay
Eguavoen proved Nigerians wrong with the win and I can see that a lot of Super Eagles fans and the media do not want to give him credit for the win. Some still insist he is an unlucky coach and will lose a game when it matters most.
As I said after the sack of Gernot Rohr, the departure of Jose Peseiro and the resignation of Finidi George, the Nigeria Football Federation does not know how to appoint a coach.
A process of three to four weeks can take them nine months, and we surely cannot afford the kind of coach we are looking for.
Irrespective of the result against Rwanda, Eguavoen should continue to be in charge of the Super Eagles. The team needs some coaching stability which Eguavoen can give them, but then again, this all depends on the Nigeria Football Federation.
Waking up and breakfast
But before we stepped out to watch the game, we had our activity in the morning. I always like breakfast at my hotel while the rest can be out in town. While having breakfast in my room with Ghanaman, the idea came for a diss video against Ghana. I had just heard they lost at home to Angola, and I quickly did one that was less than two minutes long.
Later, Cyril Dum Wite, Carl Orakwue, Clarkson Aggi, Femi Balogun and Okey Onwugbonu were in my room and we just talked about the game. I had some whiskey which they decided to save until after the game.
My friend Golden Chioma arrived and told me he would need two match tickets sent to his hotel, which I told him would be done
Heading to the stadium and match proper
We always wanted to leave early so we could have easy passage to the stadium the crowd came to the gates, so we agreed to leave our hotel by 2.30 pm. The kickoff time for the game was set at 5 pm. So at 12.30 pm we headed out to the Discovery Park again for lunch.
There I got calls from Soprinye Jaja of Rivers State Television and Chuma Nnoli of Cool, Wazobia, Info FM in Lagos and they wanted to feel the pulse of the town. Great times.
The stadium gate was empty when we passed, and there was no crowd around trying to get it. It was going to be a disaster, in terms of turnout.
As soon as we got in, I sent Ghanaman to go out and buy two VIP tickets then send them to Golden Chioma’s hotel plus bring them back to the Stadium which he did.
At 3.30 pm, I could swear we did not have up to 300 people in the stadium and at about 4 pm, there was an announcement that the gates should be thrown open for fans to get in without paying. So, by kick-off, we had the stadium about 75% full, which was not bad.
It was a great game all round and Nigerians were happy. Like I wrote earlier, when was the last time the Super Eagles scored three goals in a game? It was on October 16, 2023 in a 3-2 win against Mozambique. It was a friendly match, though.
Bet winnings and the outing
After the game, we went straight to Discovery Park for dinner, but it was different. One of the boys in our travelling party had won over half a million on sports betting. He was elated and told us he would take care of all our expenses for the night and also our trip back to Port Harcourt. Happy days are here again. Before then, Idongesit Ikono, our colleague from Port Harcourt who had been in Uyo for more than a decade, came to visit and spent some time with us too.
We were all happy and we stayed out late into the night before retiring to sleep.
Departure to Port Harcourt
Again, it was one Sienna vehicle taking us back to Port Harcourt and with a departure time agreed for 11 am previously, we were all ready and rearing to go.
Port Harcourt at last! Even the air tastes different.
