Five takeaways from Super Eagles 2-1 defeat to Algeria

Nigeria lost 2-1 to the Desert Foxes of Algeria in a not-so-entertaining affair in Oran on Tuesday night. Terem Moffi opened scoring inside 10 minutes before Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez levelled three minutes before halftime.

The match winner was grabbed just a minute after the hour mark by 26-year-old OGC Nice player Youcef Atal.

Nigeria have now failed to beat the North Africans in their last four attempts. The last time the Super Eagles got the better of Djamel Belmadi’s team was in 2016.

Here are some key points to note following the Super Eagles loss.

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Goalkeeping department still a problem

The long search for a dependable, rock-solid and commanding goalkeeper for the Super Eagles continues. Neither Maduka Okoye nor Francis Uzoho has shown enough confidence to man the post for the three-time African champions.

Jose Peseiro needs to quickly find a solution to the team’s goalkeeping problems as it has persisted for too long.

For Maduka, a lot of fans are yet to forgive him for the loss against Tunisia in the round of 16 clash at the 2021 AFCON. He didn’t represent the country after then due to online ‘bullying by fans.

However, he didn’t redeem himself in glory when he made an unforgivable error in the team’s test game on Saturday. The Super Eagles played a 2-2 draw with the Algeria Team B but his horrendous outing didn’t help matters. No wonder he was dropped for the match on Tuesday.

Uzoho too was not excellent as he didn’t look assured enough for most of the match.

Iwobi still Nigeria’s best midfielder

Alex Iwobi showed the reason he remains Everton’s most important player this season. The 26-year-old, as usual, was all over the pitch. His runs, energy, penetration and versatility were on display once again.

He had scored in the test game on Saturday and was the most decent Nigerian player on the pitch, alongside Terem Moffi. He made a couple good passes into the final third but the forwards couldn’t do much with them. Iwobi was a major reason Algeria did not beat Nigeria more than 2-1.

The midfielder has also been nominated for September’s EASPORTS Player of the Month award.

Wing play was quite poor

Although the Nigerian side were decent enough in the first half, the overall second half performance was shambolic. There was not enough cohesion by our forwards to wreak havoc in the Algerians’ defence.

Simon is known for his runs and direct play but in the second half, he was completely off. On the right wing where play was more pronounced, Lookman couldn’t get the right passes or crosses into the box.

Casa Pia forward Saviour Godwin could not do much with his pace and energy after coming off the bench.

Defenders need to do better next time

Another area to look be addressed following Nigeria’s 2-1 loss to Algeria is the defence.

Bassey seemed like the more decent of the centre backs and even at that, the overall defensive display hasn’t reached the heights expected. Akpoguma only just returned to the team after sometime out and Bassey has few caps for the national team. They faced an attack that has been playing together for years.

That shows only one thing – team coherence and mutual understanding with the right tactics will always best individual qualities. To think that the Algerian attack had all the aforementioned meant the Nigerian defenders will suffer against the likes of Ismaël Bennacer, Mahrez and Islam Slimani.

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FC Porto’s Zaidu Sanusi was not solid enough and fans were left shaking their heads occasionally with some displays.

Super Eagles lacked technical know-how

The lack of technical or tactical brilliance by the coaching crew was evident in the players’ performances.

Jose Peseiro’s men lost the ball time and again and made unnecessary turnovers too many times. In addition to Bennacer and Mahrez was a certain Youcef Belaïli who pulled to strings consistently. That showed the technical prowess of the Algerians. They were simply the better side.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles head coach Peseiro will hopefully learn from this 2-1 international friendly defeat to Algeria. In as much as he and the coaching crew will take some positives from the game, they will hope to address the various issues within the team.