The senior national team of Nigeria yesterday lost 1-2 to Egypt in a pre AFCON friendly game in preparation for the start of the tournament in Morocco, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
We pick five players who didn’t cover themselves in glory in the game, which head coach Eric Chelle used to access some newly invited players and also try out new combinations before their opening game against Tanzania on the 23rd of December.
Cyriel Dessers – Didn’t have more than three touches despite playing for 45 minutes. One of which was a very poor pass to Bruno Onyemaechi. A day to forget for the Panathinaikos man.
Chidozie Awaziem – Scored Nigeria’s lone goal but didn’t show enough leadership and game management for a player who have been in the team since 2017. Guilty of giving the ball away so many times and his poor movement played a role in the first goal Nigeria conceded.
Ebenezer Akinsamiro – The on loan Inter Milan midfielder came into the game with a very high reputation, but didn’t quite deliver as expected largely due to the fact that he was deployed in an unfamiliar position behind the main striker as opposed to his box to box midfield role.
Raphael Onyedika – Needed a statement performance to win over Chelle , who hasn’t given him minutes in four consecutive games, he however failed to make the most of it with a performance that he will want to forget in a hurry
Amas Obasogie – Should have done better for the second goal that went through his body. His ball distribution was also no where close to what Stanley Nwabali offered before he was subbed off.
