Nigeria suffered their second defeat under coach Gernot Rohr following their 2-0 loss to Serbia in the FIFA international friendly game on Tuesday, March 27 at the Hive Stadium in London.
The Super Eagles came into this game with confidence having beaten Poland 1-0 at the Municipal Stadium in Wraclaw four days back.
However, they were not strong enough to handle the Serbian team, who are currently ranked 34thh on the latest FIFA ranking, as Aleksandar Mitrovic scored two second half goals to ensure his side came out victorious after the game.
Meanwhile, almost all the players on the pitch for Nigeria performed woefully, but we will like to x-ray the performances of these five players in the disappointing display against the Serbians in London – despite the huge support from fans who were at the stadium.
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5 Players who performed woefully against Serbia
1. Chidozie Awaziem
The 21-year-old paired William Troost-Ekong at the center of the defence, but was calamitous all through the game as he was unable to string a pass successfully to the next man.
He’s currently on loan at French Ligue 1 side, Nantes but his technical abilities on the night was nothing to write home about, given the exposure and oppositions he has faced in his career.
Awaziem was also at the heart of the Nigerian defence when they (Nigeria) were beaten 2-0 for the first time by South Africa in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers in June last year.
Hence, he has not proven that he is a World Cup quality and might find himself seated on the bench all through the game even if he gets a chance to make the team at the end of the day.
2. Ogenyi Onazi
The Trabzonspor midfielder was the captain of the night, but failed to live up to expectations of the fans.
Despite his presence in the middle of the park for the Super Eagles, the former Lazio player was unable to enforce himself in the game and supply the strikers passes that could help them net a goal.
Onazi used to be a general in the team’s midfield, but seem to have lost the spark to whatever he hopes to blame it on, as most of his passes were purposeless and inaccurate.
3. Ahmed Musa
The CSKA Moscow winger played full game against the Serbians, but was unable to record a single shot at goal all through 90 minutes.
He made a switch to return to his former Russian club in January, since he was unable to break into Claude Puel’s Leicester City team, and everybody though the move would improve his performance going into the World cup.
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But that seem not to be the case as he had little or no contribution to the attack of the team, as he was unable to create any chance in the opposition’s 18-year box.
4. Alex Iwobi
The 21-year-old is one of the experienced players for the Eagles going to the World Cup due to the caliber of Premier League club he plays for.
However, that didn’t count for him as he was practically nowhere to be found on the pitch – as the Serbians were good enough to have silenced the Gunners winger.
Iwobi scored the winning goal that sent Nigeria to her sixth World Cup appearance Russia this summer, and also scored twice in Nigeria’s 4-2 victory over Argentina last November. Meanwhile, no one can explain what has happened to the player since then.
5. Joel Obi
The Torino midfielder made a return to the national team after a long while with the hope that he would perform well in the absence of captain John Obi Mikel.
He was unable to control the game for his team, while his passes were questionable.
The 26-year-old was unable to impress the fans, talk less of the team’s technical crew in his last two appearances, and may have squandered his chances of going to Russia this summer.
In all, the team had a disappointing outing this on Tuesday night and they will need step up their performance before the World Cup finally kicks off in June.
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Source: Naija.ng