Sports Journalist, Mr. Nnamdi Obanya has warned that Nigeria parading a star studded team of Europe based players may not necessarily amount to victory away in Addis-Ababa when facing Walya Ibex of Ethiopia in Sunday’s first leg of the World Cup qualifying play-off match.
Although there is a big gulf between both teams considering their rankings in global football, the Ethiopians qualified for the final stage by defeating South-Africa easily despite having had points deducted from them in the group. He highlighted the recent rise in the standard of Ethiopian football with the success of its team doing well in the CAF Champions League as worthy of note.
He then posits that the continental success achieved by a local club that has produced the main nucleus of the national team proves that there is some level of competition which has helped them to select the best crop of players who are highly motivated and have been representing them for some years. Therefore it will not be easy for Nigeria playing against such a motivated squad who are aware that they are just 180 minutes away from their first ever world cup appearance.
With the high altitude and massive support from their home fans, the Ethiopians will fancy their chances against Nigeria. Therefore the Super Eagles cannot afford to be complacent. In his words “if you watch Ethiopia play, they are very physical and they keep the ball on the ground; they are not afraid to come at you, they go very hard for every 50-50 and if you’re not careful you might just lose out”.
It was not all gloomy predictions from Mr. Obanya, as he highlighted the availability of the Super Eagles’ 1st team players, the great form of 1st choice goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, the absence of Ethiopia’s 2 top strikers due to injury as well as the reported internal grumbling by their players about match bonuses as positive signs. The temperate Ethiopian climate, he added, also favours Nigeria’s Europe based players.
He however warned that the 263 people including officials, administrators and stakeholders being sponsored to Addis-Ababa to cheer the Super Eagles should not be made to translate into too much pressure on the players. Reading from the official NFF press release he hoped that the 263 people include the 200 fans specially approved by the Nigerian president earlier in the week. This is a must win game for Nigeria.
