Coach Jose Peseiro may have achieved the AFCON semifinal target set for him by the NFF, but the real target is for the Super Eagles to now go all the way to win a fourth AFCON title.
For a team who have already won this tournament thrice and also played as many championship games, a semifinal target was always going to be a soft target.
Good enough Peseiro himself has always maintained that he will win the tournament.
Like the slogan ‘Let’s do it again’, many of us thought Peseiro was only positioning himself to keep his job.
He has proved us very wrong with what he has already achieved in two weeks in Cote d’Ivoire.
The 3-4-3 formation has best suited the Super Eagles at the AFCON and most importantly, they have continued to become more comfortable and at home with this system.
This is the foundation Nigeria need to get their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign back on track after two laboured draws with Lesotho and Zimbabwe in November.
We can now go into the next round of World Cup qualifiers at home against South Africa and away in Benin with a lot of confidence and public support.
CAF Player of the Year Victor Osimhen was always going to be the star of this AFCON, not because he is banging in the goals as many expected but for his selfless commitment to the cause of the team.
The Napoli striker has so far scored a goal and an assist at the AFCON, but he has literally put his body on the line for the team.
But for the Warrior that he is, don’t also rule him out from getting his shooting boots on when it most matters.
Ademola Lookman, Stanley Nwabali, Ola Aina, Moses Simon, Frank Onyeka, Calvin Bassey and William Ekong must also stand up to be counted.
After some rather subdued appearances for the Super Eagles, Lookman has flourished at the AFCON because the 3-4-3 formation favours him to be closer to goal than as a winger in a 4-4-2 system.
The result is that he has three important goals in the competition to validate the confidence Peseiro has in him.
Bassey and Ekong have shone as the Eagles now defend as a team, the system gives Ola Aina the license to join the attack, while Moses Simon has accepted he could still be a core of the team even when playing on his less-liked right wing.
Nwabali and Alhassan Yusuf have been the Super Eagles biggest revelations at the AFCON.
South Africa-based goalkeeper Nwabali has been great in goal for Nigeria, posting four straight clean sheets as well as game-defining saves against Angola and Cote d’Ivoire.
‘Bobo’ has won the confidence of a whole nation because he has brought a much-needed stability to the Super Eagles defence.
He is in this team for the long haul.
‘Senior man’ Kelechi Iheanacho has yet to see action in Cote d’Ivoire, but he could well be the man to stand out and be counted when it matters most…
#Letsdoitagain
