5 Things Learnt From Super Eagles Wins Over Poland

The Super Eagles of Nigeria defeated hosts Poland 1-0 in Friday night's international friendly in Wroclaw and there were five learnt from that game.
Izuchukwu Okosi here pinpoints five observations from the performance of the Eagles.

1. Eagles Defence Play A 'High line'
A couple of times the Nigerian defence were caught off guard as they hoped to keep the Polish further away from their goal.
The Eagles almost paid dearly for the high line as Robert Lewandowski and company had chances to punish those sloppy defending.
One of the attacking forays led to a low shot fired by Lewandowski that cannoned off the foot of the post and out.
That leads to the next point...

2. VAR Is Important In Football
There has been heated debate amongst football faithful around the world on the effectiveness of the Video Assistant Referees.
Nigeria captain on the night William Troost Ekong under the pressure of West Bromwich Albion midfielder Gregory Krychkwiak bundled the ball into the Nigerian net but referee Michael Oliver and his assistants failed to spot the ball criss the line.
That shows that VAR which will be in use at the World Cup should be used in other competitions and in club football for the leagues yet to embrace it.

3. Moses and Obi The Most Fouled Eagles Players
The duo of Victor Moses and Joel Obi were at the end of some crunchy tackles by the Polish players.
One of those fouls led to the penalty converted by Moses who picked himself up to convert from the spot kick in the 61st minute. The Chelsea ace was the most creative player on the Municipal Stadium turf.
Obi also suffered tackles in some of the midfield battles as well at the right back position where he made himself available to help Shehu Abdullahi deal with the pace of the Polish forward.

4. Uzoho Keeps Another Clean Sheet
Former Golden Eaglets keeper Francis Uzoho was in action throughout the duration of the game. Enyimba of Aba first choice keeper was on the bench.
Uzoho made some crucial saves but worth noticing was his no nonsense decision of punching away the ball rather than trying to hold the ball most times when dealing with crosses and set pieces.
However the Deportivo youngster needs at least two players stationed at the edge of the box to clear the ball quickly before rasping shots by the opposing players follow. Krychowiak almost scored from this but his shot was off target.

5. Colourful Polish Fans
The first thing noticed in the stadium was the vociferous supporters who waved the Polish flag with glee and sang their players' names.
The 43, 000 capacity Municipal stadium was full to the tilt as the supporters honoured their darling national team despite the freezing weather conditions.
That should be the way for the Nigerian fans and Nigerians in diaspora whether the Eagles are winning or not.

Credit: AllNigerianSoccer