October 07, (THEWILL) –Â Central African Republic (CAR) pulled off a major upset on Thursday in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on the continent, upsetting Nigeria’s Super Eagles in Lagos to keep their World Cup qualification through Group C alive.
The Super Eagles were anticipated to roll over the Wild Beasts of CAR after winning two of their previous two games. Despite dominating the visitors, Gernot Rohr’s side struggled to produce chances in both halves.
After CAR got the tie underway at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, the game got off to a slow start for both teams. The Eagles had a lot of possession time, but they were not creative enough to make a difference with the possession advantage.
Kelechi Iheanacho put forward partner Osimhen through on goal in the 26th minute, and the Napoli striker fired a shot from just beyond the area that was wide of the mark.
Iheanacho decided to go himself with an attempted long-range effort in the 33rd minute, but like Osinhem before him, his effort sailed narrowly wide.
The Eagles’ best efforts were in vain, as the CAR defence stood firm in its refusal to allow any attempt to enter their danger zone. As a result, neither team had scored by halftime. The Nigerian team did not put in the kind of first-half effort that was expected of their quality.
Osimhen started the second half as Nigeria’s coach, Gernot Rohr, replaced Leicester’s Iheanacho with Union Berlin’s Taiwo Awoniyi in a tactical move designed to create goalscoring opportunities. It was Awoniyi’s first game for the Super Eagles.
Osimhen hit the post with an incredible lob over goalkeeper Cyrus Stephane Grengou in the 53rd minute, and his attack partner, Awoniyi, squandered the opportunity to stab home the rebound as the CAR defence recovered to clear the threat.
Five minutes after the hour mark, Nigeria’s most lethal attacker Osimhen sought to find the opener with his head, but his header sailed just inches wide of the post as the visitors’ defence remained resolute to keep their goal unbreached.
There were fewer chances of note for the Eagles before the visitors found the net against the run of play. They took quick advantage of a defensive mix-up in the Nigerian area to score in the dying minutes of the contest and earn their first victory in the qualifying series against a team that are six time World Cup finalists from their lowly 124th FIFA ranked position.
The CAR made a bet on defending well and looking for a counterattack and it ended up working for them while there were long upset faces on the Super Eagles players after the final whistle.
There will be the obvious pressure that will no doubt set on Gernot Rohr’s shoulders and it will be difficult to see what answers he can fathom for the loss given that he had the full compliment of the first team squad unlike when his weakened side was able to squeeze out a 2-1 win over Cape Verde with the help of an own-goal.
All credit will go to the CAR side, their wonderful defending and a smash and grab late on to shock Nigeria with the goal from Karl Namganda to make all the difference and give them full points.
Nigeria, on six points, still leads the group after three matches but only with two points. Cape Verde beat Liberia 2-1 earlier with a late Garry Rodrigues goal to land in second spot on four points, same points as CAR. Liberia is rock bottom with three points, leaving qualification through the group quite open.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles will hope to redeem themselves when they meet CAR again in Douala Cameroon on Sunday, October 10.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
