Super Eagles 2-1 win over the Black Stars of Ghana in a friendly encounter in Marrakech on Friday elicited a lot of praise from Nigerians and for different reasons too.
A Cyriel Dessers penalty and an Ademola Lookman goal secured the Super Eagles' victory, despite Jordan Ayew's late penalty and a valiant effort by the Black Stars at the end of the game.
Any win against Ghana is banter material and this victory, the first in about 18 years, was a huge sigh of relief for fans.
Another aspect of the victory was how the game went. The Super Eagles were more fluid and dexterous as against the dour but effective display at the Nations Cup.
A lot of Nigerians felt the Super Eagles played with the handbrakes on during the AFCON and the performance against Ghana was a departure from what the Eagles were known for.
Here are three things we learnt from Friday’s win over Ghana
Stanley Nwabali is here to stay
The Chippa United shot-stopper was an unsurprising starter in the game, and he proved that his AFCON heroics were not a fluke with an outstanding game.
He was very vocal when communicating with his defenders and his distribution was top notch, same as his collecting crosses.
Nwabali was massive for Nigeria, especially in the second half, as he pulled off amazing saves to keep the game level and twice saved at point-blank range.
Nigerian fans can start dreaming right now as they have someone who they can be at ease with as the last line of defence.
Super Eagles can play – when they want to
At the AFCON, Nigeria, under José Peseiro, opted for a conservative approach, choosing to work their way through the tournament
The Super Eagles wove their way with that system into the final and only came short when they met a resilient Ivory Coast side buoyed by a vociferous home crowd.
Despite the podium finish, Nigerians were not satisfied, as a large section felt the Eagles compromised their flair and finesse to take a pop at the trophy.
Against Ghana, and for long periods, the Super Eagles showed they can play with incisive passing and flair down the wings as they rattled Ghana – especially in the first half.
The Eagles would have been far and gone by 40 minutes if Kelechi Iheanacho and Cyriel Dessers had been more clinical in front of goal.
These frailties appeared sporadically, but the Eagles had done enough to convince fans they could play attractive football – when they want to.
3-5-2 can be what you want it to be
Before the Africa Cup of Nations, the Super Eagles usually lined up in a 4-3-3 formation with emphasis on the wide two in the front triad providing the ammunition for Victor Osimhen to thrive.
The system was relatively successful, as the Napoli striker finished top scorer in Nations Cup qualifying.
But as the Nation's Cup came proper, Jose Peseiro elected to go with a 3-5-2 formation which a lot of fans found strange as his interpretation of it stifled the creativity in the team and laid more emphasis on compact defending.
To be fair to Peseiro, despite the perceived handbrakes, the team did create a lot of chances. But in hindsight, maybe, just maybe it would have been better on the offensive end.
When the team list for the friendly with Ghana was released, virtually all permutations were thrown out of the window as George elected to go with the same 3-5-2 from the Nations Cup. He was bold to give a debut to Benjamin Tanimu in a back three alongside Chidozie Awaziem and Semi Ajayi.
That was a bold move by George, who was also making his debut on the bench, albeit in an interim capacity.
There was praise for the team after the game after they showed some semblance of what they are known for. Even though there were a few misplaced passes here and there, the fluidity was there to see and the attacking instincts came to the fore.
Not out of the woods yet but the football, as compared to what was served at the AFCON, was remarkably better.
George found a way to mix the defensive aspects of the formation while not sacrificing the offensive side of things.
It had a good effect on a lot of Nigerians, as shown by their reaction on social media after the game.
