Nigeria’s 1-0 win over Zambia on Saturday was a massive tactical duel, not particularly pleasing on the eye, and left anxious home fans pissed until Alex Iwobi struck on 73 minutes.
Many supporters went into the World Cup qualifying game feeling the worst, while praying for the Super Eagles not to collapse, so to speak. And when Zambia hit the post in the second half, scared hearts could be heard across the continent.
But despite minnimal chances created by Chipolopolo, the Super Eagles had the game under control for the most part, although the early loss of midfielder Ogenyi Onazi threatened to spoil plans that the Zambians tried to take advantage of for a while.
John Mikel Obi said: “It was very tactical.
“We wanted to press them more in the first half because wanted to get the game over early and we knew they would come at us.
“We knew there was going to be space between the lines because their defence was very slow so we knew if we could press them high we could get the ball and create a few more chances.
“That’s why we lost some energy but towards the end of the game we started to get more confidence and we stepped it up.”
“We just spoke to ourselves and we knew this is our last chance at qualifying for the World Cup at our home and we were not going to lose it in front of our fans,” the skipper continued.
“We could not lose our heads. We knew we had more quality and we had players who could make a difference, so there was no need to panic and we just needed to keep playing our game. We knew if we could take advantage of the spaces between the lines, we had the players who could take the chances, even if it was just one opportunity.”
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