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The Super Eagles of Nigeria need a positive result against Sierra Leone to secure their place in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and here are five things they must do to make it happen.
As the Super Eagles of Nigeria make the trip to Monrovia to take on Sierra Leone, they do so with the knowledge that a positive result secures qualification for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
Nigeria currently sits second in Group A with nine points from four games played so far, one behind table-topping Guinea-Bissau with a game in hand and four points ahead of Sierra Leone in third while Sao Tome only have one point and are as such out of contention.
This means the Super Eagles will confirm AFCON qualification and also knock out Sierra Leone in one fell swoop as long as they avoid defeat in Monrovia on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
With the importance of Sierra Leone v Nigeria now established and reemphasised, here are five things the Super Eagles must do to avoid defeat and earn a spot at the Africa Cup of Nations in six months.
5 things that must happen in Sierra Leone v Nigeria
1. Super Eagles must go for the win
Due to the fact that a draw would be enough to send Nigeria back to the top of Group A on goal difference and also secure AFCON qualification, it is possible that the Super Eagles go into the game looking for just that.
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But playing in Monrovia hoping for a draw against Sierra Leone would be a big mistake for the Super Eagles.
Jose Peseiro must set his team up on the front foot and take the game to their opponents right from kick-off away from home.
Aiming for a win but getting a draw is a better outcome than playing the entire 90 minutes in hopes of a stalemate.
If Nigeria did that, they would be inviting undue pressure from Sierra Leone who have not lost any of their home fixtures despite playing their home games on foreign soil.
2. Nigeria must be wary of Sierra Leone’s attack
The Sierra Leonians have proven to be proficient in front of goal so far having found the net seven times in four games in the qualifying series.
Both of their home fixtures against Guinea Bissau and Sao Tome ended in 2-2 draws, further testament to their goalscoring abilities.
Nigeria have only conceded twice in four games in this qualifying series and one of those was against Sierra Leone when Jonathan Morsay opened the scoring in a 2-1 win for the Super Eagles.
The positive for Peseiro’s men is they are yet to concede a goal away from home so far. In fact, winning both away games against Sao Tome and Guinea-Bissau.
If they aim to maintain that record on Sunday, Nigeria must be careful defensively as the Sierra Leonians will not make it easy.
3. Use the wings
One thing Nigerians and Super Eagles well-wishers have always clamoured for is for the team to return to using the wide areas as they did in the glory days.
Jose Peseiro has some great wingers at his disposal, Samuel Chukwueze was recently awarded the best African player in La Liga after his stellar season with Villarreal.
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That level of quality will prove too much for the Sierra Leonians if Nigeria focuses its play through the wide areas.
Yes, the wingers are inverted but that would work well with overlapping fullbacks, the point is Peseiro needs to create overloads in wide positions and make it Nigeria’s primary source of chance creation.
That was, there will plenty of chances for Victor Osimhen and his strike partner to feed on, especially because the Super Eagles do not have the creativity in midfield to expect much from there.
4. Peseiro must be tactically flexible
Another big criticism of the Peseiro regime so far has been his tactical rigidity which was one of the reasons his predecessor Gernot Rohr got fired in the first place.
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The Super Eagles boss has to be better at reading games to make decisive substitutions in impacting the game especially if at some point Nigeria falls behind.
This problem was evident in Nigeria’s last defeat, at home to Guinea Bissau as the Super Eagles struggled to create chances and Peseiro looked on without an idea how to remedy the situation.
5. Super Eagles must respect Sierra Leone
Still referencing the loss to Guinea Bissau in Abuja, many believe it happened because the Super Eagles underrated their opponents.
There is a tendency to do that again, after all, they have the better players and Nigeria currently ranks sixth in Africa and 40th in the world while the Sierra Leonians are 27th in Africa and 117th in the world.
However, that would be a costly mistake, this is not the game for manager Peseiro to experiment or give fringe players a chance.
Admittedly, this is not a do-or-die affair for Nigeria as they still have a home game against Sao Tome to remedy the situation if they somehow fumble it against Sierra Leone.
However, why leave to chance what can be sorted out immediately? A win would go a long way to restoring faith in the Super Eagles after the poor showing in the doubleheader against Guinea-Bissau back in March.
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Nigerians will expect to see a full-strength team playing to the best of their abilities on Sunday, not taking anything for granted and respecting their opponents to the maximum.
If all that can be done, then maybe we are in for another thumping away win for Nigeria, similar to what happened against Sao Tome.
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