Nigeria vs South Africa: Super Eagles player ratings from Bloemfontein showdown

Oore-Oluwa Emmanuel

The Super Eagles of Nigeria battled South Africa in a tense World Cup qualifier that eventually ended in a stalemate, with mixed performances from key players on the night.

While some rose to the occasion with solid contributions, others struggled to make an impact, leaving fans with plenty to discuss about individual displays on the pitch.

PM News takes a cursory look on the performances of individual Nigerian players.

Goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali did well as he dealt with all aerial balls and had a good command of his defence.

Apart from Troost Ekong ‘s own goal due to miscommunication, Nwabali had an average game

Troost Ekong had a below average performance as he was beaten on few occasions by south African attackers. He even scored his own team to give the opponent the lead.

He was eventually substituted after 45 minutes.
6.5 rating for Stanley Nwabali
6.3 rating for Troost-Ekong

Calvin Bassey did well as he dealt with threats from the right wing, he won four out of four Aerial duels and with a wonderful header that led to an equaliser in the 44 minutes but it came off Cyriel Dessers head making it an assist.

Although he made unnecessary fouls that led to counter attacks for South Africa, but overall he played well.
7.0 rating

Benjamin Fredrick pulled a wonderful performance as the shield in the defence line, making 12 clearance the most for Nigeria supporting William Troost-Ekong in the defence line, solid performance from the Nigerian centre back.
7.1 rating

Ola Aina didn’t play much due to an injury he picked up in the 10 minutes of the match.
6.2 rating

Wilfred Ndidi, an average performance from him not what the fans expected of him, lost possession 12 times and had inaccurate passes, didn’t put a masterclass performance like he should. He was subbed off 70 minutes
6.6 rating

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru started against South Africa played well and made a wonderful cross to find Calvin Bassey at the far post that led to the equaliser, a solid performance from the Nigerian midfielder, good performance.
6.8 rating

Moses Simon didn’t do well as he kept losing the ball that the flank, didn’t create any chance was just there throughout the game, A poor performance from him.
He was subbed off after 78 minutes
6.6 rating

Alex Iwobi did not put up a good performance against South Africa, an average performance from him, in the course of trying to make long passes his passes weren’t accurate attempted 15 long balls but 8 were accurate, lost possession 17 times one of the most in the squad, an average performance from the Fulham midfielder.
6.5 rating

Ademola Lookman, not the kind of performance we were expecting had a chance but missed from the goal. Good defending from him, couldn’t hold the ball lost possession 18 times not a solid performance from the 2024 African Footballer of the year.
6.2 rating

Cyriel Dessers started due to an injury Victor Osimhen had against Rwanda not a good performance from him, didn’t make an attempt in front of goal, although he scored just a goal that came off his head from a header by Calvin Bassey, an average performance and was replaced by Tolu Arokodare. He was substituted after 45 minutes.
6.5 rating

Tolu Arokodare came on in the second half played well to an extent, kept the pressure upfront and had a shot blocked, a good impact and a good change made by the coach. Good performance from the Wolves striker.
6.7 rating

Bright Osayi-Samuel came on the 10 minutes after Ola Aina injured and performed well and a good performance from him.
6.6 rating