The Desert Foxes of Algeria confirmed their status as African Champions with a 1-0 win over Nigeria in an international friendly game played in Austria.
Owngoalnigeria.com rates the player on parade for Nigeria in the game.
Maduka Okoye – Can’t be faulted for the goal scored by Algeria. Showed remarkable composure to stop Algeria from extending their lead in the first half….6/10
Tyronne Ebuehi – Very lively going forward and also did his job defensively. Very assured in his role as right back. Truly back to his best. Almost drew Nigeria level with a grounder from range…6/10
Zaidu Sanusi- Can easily pass as Nigeria’s best player of the half. Kept Riyad Mahrez at bay and also did his bit going forward with two good crosses into the box. Base on the strength of his performance hard to see Jamilu Collins displacing him anytime soon…7/10
Willam Ekong – Didn’t cover himself in glory with the way he played as he relied on Balogun to bail him out. Clearly rusty as he hasn’t tasted a minute of action this season both at Udinese and Watford….4/10
Leon Balogun- Monster performance from
the Rangers of Scotland man. Cool in defence and composed in possession. By far one of his best performance for Nigeria since 2018…6/10
Frank Onyeka- Surprisingly yanked off at the half time break. Didn’t start too well but recovered as the half went on. Pressed really high up the pitch for the period he was on the pitch…4/10
Semi Ajayi – Playing In an unfamiliar role in defensive midfield. The West Brom defender struggled to assert himself. Did win back possession but generally he was very poor in using the ball….5/10
Alex Iwobi- Ended the first half very well and even came close to scoring with an effort that sailed narrowly wide. Didn’t do much in the second half…..6/10
Samuel Kalu – Guilty of squandering possession in key areas and didn’t do anything remarkable off the ball. Deserved to be subbed off a lot earlier than when he was replaced by Moses Simon…4/10
Samuel Chukwueze- His performance faded in the second half as he didn’t do as much as he did in the first half. Still did a lot better than most of the players who played upfront….6/10
Paul Onuachu- The lanky forward failed to convince once again. Looked out of sort, lost and poor in all areas. Has played himself out of a future call up…4/10
Substitutes:
Mikel Agu – Struggled to cope with the pace of the game when he was introduced. Gave away possession cheaply and didn’t show why he was introduced….3/10
Moses Simon – Added pace to the attack and also his link up play was good. Also put in a good shift in defence as well…5/10
Kevin Akpoguma- Won his duels and was fearless in his approach. Should be heavily involved in subsequent games…5/10
