Former Super Eagles coach Jo Bonfrere has knocked down the long-ball tactics Imama Amapakabo employed in a desperate bid to overturn a heavy loss against Togo and qualify for next year’s CHAN in Cameroon.
The CHAN Eagles won 2-0 in Lagos at the weekend, but failed to overturn a 4-1 loss they had suffered in Togo last month.
This was despite the fact that 10 minutes of additional time were given by the match officials on Saturday.
“The long balls did not help the team because Togo had tall defenders to deal with them,” said Bonfrere, who was at the Agege Stadium to watch the game on Saturday.
They aimed these balls at the No 9 (Nyima Nwagua) but he couldn’t deal with them.
“They should have tried using the wings and crosses to go past the defence.”
CHAN Eagles coach Imama himself admitted “technical blunders” from the first leg with co-ordinator Patrick Pascal also saying the players who played in Lagos would have done a better job than those who were paraded in Lome.
Imama made as many as six changes to the starting XI from the Lome leg of the 2020 CHAN playoffs – Daniel James, Ifeanyi Nweke, Anthony Shimaga, Nyima Nwagua, Ibrahim Olawoyin and Ifeanyi Anaemena.
Last year, Nigeria played in the final of the CHAN in Morocco.
