Nigeria entered the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations with excessive expectations, touted as one of many favourites to carry the trophy.
Nevertheless, the optimism surrounding the Tremendous Eagles has waned prematurely, overshadowed by a sequence of unlucky occasions and puzzling choices made by coach Jose Peseiro.
Because the workforce braces for his or her opening match towards Equatorial Guinea, three pivotal choices have raised eyebrows and solid doubt on Nigeria’s championship aspirations.
Maduka Okoye’s omission
In a perplexing transfer, Peseiro opted to exclude Maduka Okoye from the squad regardless of the goalkeeper’s spectacular performances in Serie A with Udinese.
Okoye is the one Nigerian goalie plying his commerce in Europe’s high 5 leagues.
The choice has drawn criticism, notably from Nigerian legend Jay-Jay Okocha, who expressed dissatisfaction with the dealing with of Okoye within the nationwide workforce since his howler towards Tunisia on the 2021 AFCON.
As an alternative, Peseiro selected goalkeepers from Cyprus, South Africa, and the native Nigerian league, leaving the workforce with a mixture of restricted publicity and questionable confidence ranges within the goalkeeping division.
Insistence on a 25-man squad
Regardless of the Confederation of African Soccer (CAF) permitting groups to call 27 gamers of their remaining AFCON squad to account for potential accidents, Peseiro insisted on a 25-man roster.
This resolution proved expensive throughout the workforce’s week-long camp within the UAE, the place Victor Boniface sustained an harm, adopted by Umar Sadiq upon arrival in Cote d’Ivoire.
The next call-up of Terem Moffi and Paul Onuachu, who will miss the opening match and require time to assimilate into Peseiro’s plans, underscores the repercussions of the coach’s insistence on a smaller squad.
Inviting injured gamers
Peseiro’s resolution to incorporate gamers nursing accidents or recovering from long-term layoffs has additional muddied the waters for Nigeria.
Wilfred Ndidi, recovering from a knock, made the roster, together with his substitute, Alhassan Yusuf, solely referred to as up after Leicester Metropolis refused to launch an injured participant.
Umar Sadiq, who spent most of final season on the sidelines after present process surgical procedure, secured a spot over the in-form Paul Onuachu.
On the similar time, Kelechi Iheanacho, coping with a lingering knock, stays absent even 24 hours earlier than the event kicks off.
Peseiro’s choice for injured gamers jeopardises the workforce’s cohesion and places their competitiveness in danger.
Looking back, whereas a miraculous triumph stays believable for the Tremendous Eagles, Peseiro could discover these three choices because the bedrock of any potential failure.
Because the Tremendous Eagles navigate the challenges forward, the focus will undoubtedly stay on these questionable decisions which have created an air of uncertainty round Nigeria’s AFCON marketing campaign.