Fortune, it would appear, does favor the brave. It’s hard to conclude otherwise after watching the Super Eagles secure its first win at Brazil 2014 –heck, this was Nigeria’s first World Cup win since 1998 - and take a giant step towards qualification for the round of 16.
Lady luck was certainly smiling on Keshi’s team when Dzeko breached the Eagles defence and slotted past Enyeama after 21 minutes. Up went the offside flag though, and a perfectly good “goal” – a straggling Ambrose played Dzeko onside – was chalked off.
Then, on 29 minutes when the bustling Emenike fought his way past a sprawling Spahic and got free in the Bosnia box, the ref allowed play to continue – as did the assistant ref, who had the best view to make a decision – and the Fenerbache man squared for Odemwingie to score the game’s only goal.
Now, to be fair, I have seen the replays of this goal ad nauseum and I remain convinced it was the right call – or non-call, if you prefer – but I’ve also seen enough football to know that more often than not, a foul would have been given.
As for the bravery, let’s start with the Eagles’ line up for the night; Odemwingie kept his place after his cameo against Iran, as did Yobo, who’d replaced the injured Oboabona. The big call though was Keshi’s decision to include the relatively unknown and much maligned Babatunde, and handing him the all-important attacking midfield role. Given all the disappointment induced venom sent in the direction of the manager and his team over the previous five days, for Keshi to go ahead and pick that young man in that role in a game of such importance – a loss or draw would have meant elimination – sure took guts.
And was he rewarded. Babatunde stepped up and showed exactly why Keshi had such confidence in him, putting in a performance full of running, intent and versatile endeavour, especially in a second half that included two very good shots on the Bosnian goal. Sure, he’s still raw and made some mistakes, but he brought more to the role than Azeez had on Monday, and played a key part in this important victory.
The Eagles started the game with far more energy this time, pushing forward right from the off, and winning the game’s first corner kick after just 3 minutes after Mikel had picked out Emenike from deep. They looked for quick transitions, pressing the Bosnians high up the pitch and using their pace to latch on to any loose passes. Musa sprang forward to pick off one such pass from Spahic in the 6th minute, and Medjanin picked up the first yellow card for blocking his path to goal. Another intervention by Babatunde led to Onazi forcing Begovic into a save after 14 minutes.
The passing quality was much improved too, and with much of the build-up play coming down the right flank, the Eagles tried to use Musa’s pace, off the left, to get behind the Bosnian defence. That led to some good openings: In the 9th minute, some neat passing between Babatunde, Odemwingie and Emenike culminated in a sweeping cross to pick out an unmarked Musa in the Bosnia box, only for the speedy winger to fluff his lines. Then, in the 13th minute, Onazi picked out Musa’s run, and the ball was eventually worked to Mikel via Emenike, but his shot flew wide of Begovic’s right hand post. Then, Odemwingie’s long ball picked out Musa’s run but the winger fell over after chesting the ball down, claiming some sort of interference by the Bosnian defenders.
For all the Eagles’ good work though, there were problems in the middle of the park. Mikel and Onazi, the deepest sitting midfielders were being bypassed way too easily, partly because they kept carelessly giving the ball away, but it wasn’t until close to the 20 minute mark that the Bosnians really started capitalising on the gaps they were leaving in front of the back four.
They got their first corner kick after Mikel coughed up possession high up the field, and Oshaniwa blocked Besic’s attempted cross from the right. From the corner kick, Misimovic sent a curling shot just wide of Enyeama’s post. Two minutes later, from another turnover, Pjanic slipped an astute pass to Dzeko to score that wrongfully disallowed goal.
It was a recurring theme for about 10 minutes: Mikel giving up possession, the Bosnians marching upfield and either forcing a save from Enyeama – Hjarovic in the 23rd minute; Dzeko in the 24th minute and Pjanic in the 27th minute – or just missing that final pass, as in the 26th minute when Dzeko failed to control a slightly over hit pass from Misimovic.
But then came Odemwingie’s goal, started when Onazi dispossessed Misimovic just outside the Nigeria box in the 29th minute. What is most impressive about the goal is the amount of ground Odemwingie covered. He had run the ball from the Eagles’ half of the field, sent it wide to Emenike and then kept on going to finish the move.
The Eagles regained their poise after the goal and they saw out the first half quite comfortably, moving the ball around with impressive composure, yet carrying that sense of controlled aggression as they picked their moments to burst forward. The constant interchanging and movement among the forward four was particularly pleasing – Emenike often popping up on the right wing, where Spahic, who endured a torrid 90 minutes, had trouble handling his persistent pace and strength, and Odemwingie roving all across the forward line, while never neglecting his defensive responsibilities.
They looked even more composed as the second half got underway, and with Bosnians needing to score to stay in the finals, the game opened up even more, allowing the Eagles to further demonstrate their pace and power and create more scoring opportunities. Babatunde, looking more and more impressive as the game wore on, stung Begovic’s palms with superb strike on 54 minutes, and repeated the trick in the 60th minute, after skillfully tricking his way past two defenders just outside the Bosnia box. A minute later, Odemwingie controlled a Mikel pass into the path of Emenike whose prodded effort from six yards was well saved by Begovic.
The Stoke City stopper also had to be alert to another low shot from Emenike, at his near post in the 65th minute, and a fierce drive from Onazi following a free-kick in the 82nd minute.
If there was one negative to the Eagles attacking play in this half, it would be that they didn’t add to the score. The high pressing and quick transitions worked just fine, except that too often, just one man – often Emenike – would force their way into the box or to the goal line, and the supporting cast would be way behind the play, there’d be no one to square to and the opportunity would be gone. It carries its own risk, but a little better anticipation – getting into position, just in case - could have converted some of those breaks into goals
All that attacking intent further underlines the courage I alluded to earlier. With the clock winding down and a slender lead in hand, many coaches would have considered it prudent to batten down the hatches by sending on an extra defender or pulling the team back. Not Keshi. Instead, the Eagles bravely attacked even more and when Musa was withdrawn with 25 minutes to play, on came another striker, Ameobi, in his place. Furthermore, when Babatunde was forced out injured shortly afterwards, another untested youngster, Uzoenyi came on in his place. On another day, with another result, many critics would call this reckless. On a day when fortune was benevolently shining down, it proved a masterstroke.
For all that though, there was nothing remotely reckless about the Eagles approach to this game. They were very deliberate and picked their moments to attack. Indeed, it was defensively that the Eagles really impressed me in that second half. For one thing, Mikel and Onazi were less profligate with possession and stuck closer to the back four and their defensive duties. Onazi, in particular had a superb second half, breaking up attacks and winning the ball on numerous occasions. Secondly, Omeruo did a fantastic job man-marking the dangerous Dzeko, and the evergreen Yobo looked just as committed beside him.
But beyond the individuals, it was the defensive organisation that won the day. As soon as they lost possession, the wide attackers pulled back – Odemwingie, surprisingly, was particularly impressive in this regard winning many tackles in the right back position – allowing the full backs to tuck in alongside the centre backs and clog up the channels. With the double pivot in front of that, and Babatunde (or Ameobi) putting in a shift ahead of them, it meant a well set up nine-man block was often in place to repel anything the Bosnians had to throw at them. It didn’t work to perfection – Musa wasn’t as defensively adept on the left flank, often leaving Oshaniwa on his own – but no one would raise any patronising talk about Africans and “naïve defending” after watching this.
They were well tested too, especially after Susic threw Ibisevic into the mix for the last half hour or so. He almost had an immediate impact, running on to another Pjanic through ball, but Enyeama was out swiftly to claim the ball. He also came close from a free header at a corner kick in the 74th minute, but the real drama came in the last frantic minutes. Yobo had already blocked a close range Ibisevic shot, and Omeruo had already pressured Dzeko into directing a soft header directly at Enyeama from another Pjanic cross, but it is Enyeama’s last-ditch save, with his foot, and then off a post, that will rightly take all the plaudits.
Enyeama was brilliant, but that was fortune’s final act of the day, gloriously rewarding our brave Eagles.
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