Nigeria faced wobbly arch rivals Cameroon in the Round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations looking to get past the ghosts of 2021 when they didn’t go past the group stage. Cameroon came in to this tie having struggled defensively in the group stage with 5 goals scored and 6 conceded in 3 group stage games. Cameroon’s Georges Kevin Nkoudou had the most chances created in the group stages with 10 while Victor Osimhen’s 13 shots and 4 chances created combined was the most of any Nigerian player in the group stage since 2010. It was really setting up to be a titanic battleNigeria’s Jose Peseiro set up his team in a 1-3-4-3 a formation he has extensively used during the group stage. Stanley Nwabali started his 4th match in a row as the goalkeeper. Ahead of him, West Brom’s Semi Ajayi, William Troost Ekong of PAOK and Calvin Bassey from Fulham were the three centre backs. Ola Aina and Porto’s Zaidu Sanusi were the wingbacks. In central midfield, Frank Onyeka partnered with Alex Iwobi. In attack. Moses Simon who plies his trade in France for Nantes and Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman were the wide players either side of Napoli and Africa’s best player Victor Osimhen.Cameroonian legend and coach Rigobert Song on the other side also set up his team in a 1-3-4-3. In goal, Fabrice Ondoa who plays for French side Nimes Olympique started in goal. Stade Rennais’ Christopher Wooh, Oumar Gonzalez of Al-Raed and Jean-Charles Castelletto of Nantes started as the three centre backs. Nouhou Tolo who plays in USA for Seattle Sounders started as the left wingback while Dynamo Moscow’s Nicolas Moumie Ngamaleu was on the right. Olivier Ntcham and Napoli’s Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa were the midfield two. In attack, Frank Magri odf Tolouse led the line flanked by the tournament’s best chance creator Georges-Kevin Nkoudou on the left and the ever-present Karl Toko Ekambi on the right. AFCON 2023: Cameroon, Look away! Super Eagles soar through thanks to Ademola’s braceIn build-up, Nigeria’s Calvin Bassey almost as the left back with Ajayi and Troost-Ekong staying central. The Left wing back Zanusi pushed so high beyond the halfway line while Ola Aina on the right was slightly on the half way line. This created maximum width for Nigeria opening up enough wide passing lanes for wide progression. The two midfielders however stuck centrally, as the double pivot looking to offer options for central progression. The two wingers, Ademola Lookman and Moses Simon were positioned centrally in close proximity to the striker Osimhen who looked to offer the team enough depth. This set up meant that in the first phase Nigeria managed to exploit maximum width and maximum depth. Something which smoothened their build up and made it easy for them to move through the phases.🇳🇬 Ademola Lookman 🇳🇬Who else would it be? Lookman is the TotalEnergies Man of the Match! 👏#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 | #NGRCMR | @Football2Gether pic.twitter.com/yU5jIY1Woy— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 27, 2024 Cameroon on their side built up play in a 3-3-1-3 formation with the three centre backs deep and offering central passing lanes. The two wing backs and Anguissa then formed the midfield three with Ntcham slightly ahead of them acting as a link between the midfield and attack. The biggest problem they faced however, was the large distances between the players. The wingbacks were too wide making Anguissa look isolated. Ntcham sitting in between the lines and not dropping to help him also led to more problems. Up top in attack, it was the same problem with the wingers too wide leaving Magri up top on his own. This lack of numbers in zones made it impossible for Cameroon to progress centrally. The huge distances between the players also made it hard for them to keep possession through short passing something that worked in favour of NigeriaAs we got in to attack, Nigeria looked to have 5 players in the last line of attack. The two wingers, Ademola Lookman and Moses Simon occupied the half spaces allowing Osimhen to stay central. Sanusi and Aina offered width on both flanks. Having three centre backs allowed the two midfielders to push up and be in position to recycle the ball. Their attacking formation was a 3-2-5. The key to get Nigerian attacks was Victor Osimhen with his positioning. With the three attackers in close proximity, Osimhen dropped deeper frequently attracting the Cameroonian centre backs and moving them out of position. The two wingers would then attack the space vacated by the Naples man . This rotation meant Lookman was infront of goal most of the time and it can be explained by how his average position was ahead of Osimhen. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7828935##Cameroon’s Frank Magri at centre forward often looked isolated. The two wingers stayed so wide while the midfielders hardly pushed up in support. Karl Toko Ekambi in particular struggled to get hold of the game as he is a natural inside forward and hugging the touchline meant that he had to cover a lot more distance to get to goal. The wingbacks staying wide also meant that while Cameroon had more numbers out wide, they had less numbers in front of goal and this therefore meant they were not as threatening. The huge distances between the players also made it hard to link up and manipulate space in attack and this made it easy for Nigeria to defend them.This huge distances is what led to the first goal. With Cameroon in possession during build up, there are no players centrally and Nigeria’s narrow defence have the players on ball side covered. The only available option was to switch the ball to the other side, however the indecisiveness led to Osimhen pouncing and taking the ball off him, the Nigerian number 9 attracted two defenders leaving space for Ademola Lookman on the right of the box before sliding the ball into the path of Lookman who scrambled the ball over the line and gave the Nigerians the lead.Ademola Lookman was in the perfect place to put the ball in the net. 💥#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 | @NGSuperEagles pic.twitter.com/PuBO9ZDrLO— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 28, 2024 Nigeria were superior positionally and in terms of quantitatively as their coach set up tactically in a way that exploited every players strength and thus they proved to be the better side. A deserved result in the end that sees Cameroon eliminated and pits Nigeria against motivated Angola in the quarter finals.
