AFCON 2021: Eguavoen offers Queiroz a lesson in simplicity and pragmatism

For all the apprehension and uncertainty over Mohamed Salah’s form coming into the Africa Cup of Nations, it turned out the best way to keep a handle on the Liverpool man was to do… nothing at all.

As a certain vertically challenged war general once said, “never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake”. So when Carlos Queiroz elected to field Salah centrally, his opposite number Austin Eguavoen must have heaved a huge sigh of relief. At the risk of overstating things, it was a decision that conditioned the flow of the entire game.

It meant that an actual centre-forward – Mostafa Mohamed, one of the great striking talents of Egyptian football – was shunted out onto the wing. That then had the knock-on effect of forcing another winger – this time Mahmoud Trezeguet – to play in central midfield. 

It was all so muddled, so cobbled together. 

It betrayed the crux of successful coaching: placing your best players in the optimum positions to succeed.

The contrast with Eguavoen was striking. The former Nigeria international has divided opinion, more strongly in the negative, since his appointment to the role in mid-December, and there remains little clarity surrounding his future beyond this tournament. However, here he was remarkably lucid. 

Using Moses Simon on the left may have had a touch of the pragmatic about it (the understandable assumption being that Salah would line up where he usually does, and consequently Zaidu Sanusi would require aid), but it was the Nantes’ man reprising the role and position he has played at club level with aplomb.

Fielding Kelechi Iheanacho as part of a proper front two was also a departure from Gernot Rohr’s conception of the Leicester City man as a deeper n.10, one which increasingly proved unhelpful and slowed the play down during the latter days of the German’s reign.

It was all so coherent, so joined up.

The result was predictable: the Super Eagles started strong and hardly let up, especially as it became increasingly clear their opponent had not bothered too much with any sort of plan of attack. Vague long balls in the general direction of Salah were never likely to bear fruit: the centre-forward role is one he has played on occasion and can play, but not within this framework, and not by feeding off scraps. 

By sweeping the ball out to Simon time and again, Nigeria were able to isolate the full-back on that flank and stretch the play, allowing Aribo to advance in the half-space onto the edge of the penalty area and combine with the front two. Iheanacho and Taiwo Awoniyi, making only his second senior international appearance, worked as a proper pair: the latter attacking the front post, the former the penalty spot. The sentinel Wilfred Ndidi surveyed the scene from a healthy distance and stepped in when necessary as a breakwater.

It was a simple plan, but one which Egypt seemed incapable of dealing with or reacting to in any way.

This dynamic ultimately led to the most impressive performance of the major teams in the competition, and as a result a stirring win to open the competition and effectively assure a place in the Round of 16 already.

However, it also means that it is impossible to get a true read on Nigeria’s level just yet. 

Sure, Eguavoen’s men executed well and got the job done, but that Egypt performance is too great a caveat to ignore. Would the plan have worked as well had Queiroz not gotten in his own way? It is hard to tell. Self-sabotage in the enemy camp is hardly repeatable: it is highly unlikely the Super Eagles will continue to have their kernels broken open by benevolent spirits.

Knowing that, the value of Tuesday’s result is less as a gauntlet thrown down to the tournament favourites or a statement of intent, and more a shot in the arm for the team itself. Coming into a major tournament severely depleted and lacking its attacking talisman, there were many who wondered if this group had the belief to rise to the challenge in the truest Nigerian tradition, who thought it necessary to write off the AFCON following the sacking of Rohr.

Those doubts have now been dispelled. This team is willing and able, at the very least. And there is no question about their commitment to the cause: there was no pining for the strictures of their former boss, no grumbling and murmuring, no hankering for leeks, garlic and other alliums.

As the tournament progresses, there will be time enough to test the mettle of this Super Eagles team. In the meantime however, the wafery sweet taste of victory and three points will suffice. After two years in the wilderness, it seems like there is finally a sense of freedom and direction.