Kanu: Eagles Must Be Clinical

Former skipper of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Nwankwo Kanu, has charged the team to improve on their goal scoring prowess if they qualify for the Brazil 2014 World Cup.

The African champions beat the Flames of Malawi 2-0 at the U.J. Eusene Stadium, Calabar, Cross Rivers State on Saturday. Despite gaining most of the ball possession, Nigeria failed to get the curtain raiser. All clear cut chances created could not produce any goal.

It took the Nigerian team 45 minutes of the first half for the first goal to come through Emmanuel Emenike.

The goal brought relief to Nigerians at the stadium filled with fans that had become impatient as the Eagles had nothing to justify their dominance of the game. The second goal was scored by Liverpool’s new recruit, Victor Moses in the 51 minutes.

Former Portsmouth of England star, Kanu was not happy that those chances created in the matches were not utilised, adding that it is high time the Eagles realise the fact that winning matches is all about scoring goals. “I know that we were going to win, but the chances we failed to convert is a source of worry to me especially as we’re looking forward to the draws of the playoffs,” said the Atlanta 1996 Olympics gold medallist.

“The Eagles supposed not to wait for the stoppage time of the first half to score their first goal. There is no doubt that the Flames came with a game plan to hold on to the ball and played defensive game, but the Eagles supposed to have scored many goals before Emenike got the opener. The Malawian team were lucky not to have conceeded at least six goals in the match.”

The former Arsenal of England goal poacher added: “The coaches should go back to the drawing board to look at the weaknesses of the team and correct them before their next matches where the final ticket will be at stake,” Kanu said.  Cameroon were the last nation to reach the play-offs yesterday, joining Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Senegal. A seeded draw, based on the latest FIFA rankings, will be made on 16 September in Cairo. Winners of five two-leg ties scheduled for October and November, go to Brazil.

—Taiwo Adelu, Who Was In Calabar