Super Eagles head coach Éric Chelle has called for improvement from his players despite Nigeria’s impressive 2-0 victory over Zimbabwe in the semi final of the Unity Cup played at The Valley in London on Tuesday night.
The Millwall forward wasted no time in announcing himself on the international stage. Nigeria’s opening goal was scored after only five minutes when sustained pressure from the Super Eagles forced Zimbabwe into defensive problems.
A swift attacking move was eventually finished by Azeez, whose powerful left footed strike from outside the box beat Zimbabwe goalkeeper Future Sibanda and flew into the net to hand Nigeria an early advantage.
Several opportunities were later created by the Super Eagles as the first half progressed. Alhassan Yusuf, Tochukwu Nnadi and Philip Otele were all presented with chances to extend Nigeria’s lead, although Zimbabwe managed to stay within touching distance before the break.
After the restart, Zimbabwe attempted to respond with more attacking intent, but Nigeria continued to look dangerous on the counter attack.
The second goal eventually arrived in the 62nd minute following another well worked team move by the Super Eagles. A flowing attack was started by Otele before Terem Moffi intelligently picked out Azeez inside the penalty area.
The forward calmly beat Sibanda once again to complete his brace and effectively seal victory for the Super Eagles.
Éric Chelle Challenges Players to Step Up Performance
Although the performance produced many positives, Éric Chelle insisted afterwards that more work still needs to be done ahead of the final.
“This is only a friendly game. This is not the World Cup qualifier. They need to work hard,” Chelle said during his post match interview.
“They need to try to understand what I want, what the technical staff want and the high level is difficult.
“So you see, we made some mistakes with the ball. For sure, you see tomorrow we will it work out during training,” he added.
Attention will now be shifted towards Saturday’s final at The Valley, where Nigeria will face either Jamaica or Iran, who are scheduled to meet in the second semi final on Wednesday.
The victory over Zimbabwe will certainly provide confidence for Chelle’s side, but the Nigerian coach has already made it clear that higher standards are still being demanded from his players as preparations continue ahead of more competitive fixtures later in the year.
