A 0-0 draw in Sierra Leone wasn’t enough to secure the spot at the Africa Cup of Nations for the Nigerian national team.
The Super Eagles missed a nice chance to beat Leone Stars in their back-to-back clashes and remove them from the most prominent football tournament on the continent. Right now, Nigeria has 8 points, one more than Benin in the second place, and five than third-placed Sierra Leone. Lesotho is sitting at the bottom of the table with two points after four rounds.
Gernot Rohr‘s boys will have the final two games of the qualifications in late March 2021, visiting Benin and hosting Lesotho. They would need to take two points from these events in order to be safe and seal one of the top two places in Group L. Now every team in this assembly has its calculations; therefore, the Super Eagles won’t have an easy task.
Benin is beside the Super Eagles, the best team in the group, and the second spot is speaking for itself at the moment. After losing to Nigeria in the opening round of the AFCON qualifiers, 2-1, they win two matches before dropping a point in Lesotho. A victory there would have sealed their ticket for the continental tournament, which means they have a big motive to beat Nigeria.
So far, in seven H2H games, the Super Eagles won six times and lost just once. Rohr needs to find a way to overcome this difficulty and shut down all the doubters, otherwise, the game against Lesotho will be played in a pretty bad atmosphere. Those conditions can be very tricky, especially in must-win situations.
Lesotho is not a team Nigeria should be afraid of, especially after a 2-4 victory on the road. Osimhen with two and Chukwueze and Iwobi with one goal each solved that match in Super Eagles’ favor. However, many forget that the hosts scored first back then.
As said before, what is problematic here is the loss against Benin. Rohr is having many problems to handle certain situations, which is why big pressure before the game might create conditions for sensations. One small thing is enough for the avalanche to start, and after that, there is no way back.
The 2021 ACON is of great importance for Nigerian football. In 2013 the Super Eagles won the tournament, but they wouldn’t participate at all over the next two cycles. In the meantime, Nigeria bounced back, winning third place in the 2019 edition, and also participating in the 2018 World Cup, showing a vast talent on both ocassions. However, those drought years were extremely frustrating for all the fans back home and worldwide, which is why this team now needs to secure its spot in Cameroon at all costs.
Rohr’s unit has excellent players, and once looking at their roster, they should be one of the favorites for winning the AFCON. However, the reality is somewhat different. Iheanacho, Iwobi, Etebo, Chukwuenze, and others need to break that mental barrier before fulfilling their true potential in the national team.
It is one more reason why they need to finish the qualifiers successfully.
