AFCON 2023: Nigeria Vs Cote D'ivoire match preview

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00:00 And fans of the Super Eagles bargained for 3 points against Equatorial Guinea and now

00:04 it's a must have, in fact even a requisite when they face tournament hosts Ivory Coast

00:09 on Thursday 6pm Nigerian time.

00:11 Here's a preview of that game.

00:14 And my name is Aminé Shuthuman, this is an Up Next right here on Guardian.

00:25 And yes, shortly we'll start by reflecting on that draw against Equatorial Guinea and

00:29 joining me to do that is Organ.

00:31 Organ, how are you doing?

00:32 I'm good, very well.

00:33 And first, your impression about that game against Equatorial Guinea, absolutely is a

00:39 tale of missed chances for me.

00:40 Of course, of course.

00:44 I do not know what to say initially but you see, the point is we lost so many chances

00:49 and that actually cost a detriment to our 3 points.

00:55 So I just feel that we should be able to do much better in the next game.

00:59 And now of course, the Super Eagles face Ivory Coast next and you know what it is, Ivory

01:05 Coast are leading the group already and then don't forget they have a dominant midfield

01:10 because I really want to talk about the midfield now.

01:12 Alassane Youssef had a fantastic debut in some sorts and he was quite energetic, gave

01:18 us what we were probably given.

01:21 We don't know as of this time whether he will feature in that game, I mean he was stretched

01:24 off, not a good way to start your Super Eagles journey.

01:28 But then what more problems need fixing?

01:31 I know there are a number of them right off the top of your head.

01:33 Alright, I feel that Youssef actually gave his best but the pairing together is, we are

01:43 looking at a bread and butter thing here.

01:45 You don't give us bread and butter.

01:51 The blending of the game, I know that these guys have not played together for a long time.

01:54 I mean it was the first time, that pairing in midfield was the first time they ever played

01:57 together.

01:58 So I believe that all the clips should be shown to them and let them see what did they

02:04 do.

02:05 I know that Posero for now should have looked at it, okay what was my mistake in the first

02:09 game in my midfield because I believe that the midfield wins the game.

02:15 We are playing Cote d'Ivoire, the midfield was the best for them.

02:20 I was coming to the midfield that they have, we are talking about the likes of Sekou Fofana,

02:27 Ibrahim Sangare, these are established players in their teams.

02:31 Kese.

02:32 Kese, Frank Kese.

02:33 Frank Kese was not so much of a dominant force against Guinea-Bissau but hey against Nigeria

02:41 with that midfield, that pale midfield we have, it's a big worry.

02:46 I believe that we are going to have a difficult game against Cote d'Ivoire because of that

02:52 midfield.

02:53 Our midfield is struggling, our best player in the midfield right now is injured.

02:59 We do not know the result of the injury, we don't know how far it's going to go.

03:04 I believe that Nigeria came into this competition having more injuries.

03:08 We are a broken leg team as it were and Cote d'Ivoire they have a stronger team in the

03:15 midfield.

03:16 I mean these three players have the way they controlled the game.

03:22 I still believe that when we get into the game it's still the first game, every team

03:27 are putting trials, they are probably doing trial and error but we continue to try.

03:34 The more they play together, the more they are able to blend together.

03:38 Something that comes to mind really is how do you get to compete against the likes of

03:43 those guys?

03:44 The options we have, whether or not Alassane Youssef will play in that game, the options

03:48 we have is Joao Ribo on the branch and there is also Raphael Onyedika.

03:53 The jury is out against Franco Iuka starting as the holding midfielder but against an established

04:00 team in midfield, perhaps Seko Fofana, perhaps Ibrahima Sangare.

04:04 I'm not trying to make so much about these players but these are established players

04:09 who understand themselves better than the Super Eagles at this point.

04:13 How do you compete against the host, especially the backing of the fans right behind them?

04:20 I feel that right now or in that game the wingers might be doing more of the works.

04:27 They might be protecting the team, the midfield.

04:32 As it were, we do not even know what exactly is our coach planning.

04:36 We do not know because each time he comes in to different matches with different patterns

04:42 and we do not know what we are expecting next.

04:46 I believe that the midfield was open in the last game.

04:51 If the wingers can come back to protect them, we will be doing more of markings in that

04:59 game because of the kind of midfield structures that the Super Eagles could come up with.

05:06 And really we hope he gets the structure right because there was some questionable selection

05:11 in that game against Uketobe Guinea as ever.

05:13 As we've always had, Jose Pesero, Zaidu Sanusi missing a seater early on.

05:17 He's not really had the best of games.

05:19 The defensive pairing of Atruste Kong and Semiha Jai.

05:22 Kemeto Melro is on that bench and he's a very experienced head.

05:26 Probably the most experienced head in the squad and he's not getting game time.

05:29 But then we'll wait and see how that will pan out.

05:32 Last, just before we go, your predictions for the game.

05:34 I know before we already said perhaps the best we could get is a draw.

05:38 Do you reckon we could even get a draw or maybe overachieve and get more?

05:42 Well, yes, we spoke about Cote d'Ivoire's midfield, very strong.

05:49 But their defence, looking at the last game, their defence were not that strong.

05:54 But the midfield protected the defence.

05:57 And looking at Nigerian Super Eagles, we have the attack doing more than the midfield.

06:03 So I believe that Nigeria, if they are committed, if they are hungry for three points,

06:10 they can still go all out and get three points.

06:13 But what role, because we have to talk about Victor Osime very quickly.

06:16 What role do you think he'll have to play?

06:18 I mean, he missed some big chances and it's probably not the best performance in the Super Eagles' GC for him.

06:25 Even though he got a goal.

06:26 Yeah, I feel that the pressure is more on Osime in the last game.

06:30 But the whole team were looking forward to Osime.

06:35 They were playing all the balls to Osime.

06:39 That's one of the reasons why I'm missing Boniface.

06:43 Honestly speaking, I miss him.

06:45 But they will have Thierry Murphy.

06:47 Maybe that could make some difference, don't you think?

06:49 See, rat is a rat, cat is a cat, dog is a dog, lion is a lion.

06:55 You can't compare Boniface to anybody.

06:57 That's just it.

06:58 Thierry Murphy has been a decent option in the past.

07:00 Oh, like I said again.

07:02 Lion, lion, rat, rat.

07:04 We'll have to bring it to a close here.

07:06 Thank you very, very much for watching.

07:08 You can be part of the community by hitting the subscribe button.

07:10 Of course, you can follow Guardian Nigeria that way.

07:13 And also, get our latest content when you hit the notification bell.

07:17 Thank you very, very much for watching.

07:19 Gorgan, thank you for making it to the show again.

07:21 Thank you very much.

07:23 We hope that when we come here to discuss Super Eagles next time, we speak of their good luck against...

07:28 Yeah, three points all the way.

07:30 Yeah. See you then. Bye.

07:32 ♪ ♪

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07:40 (whooshing)

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