Lots of positives to take from Mexico game – Eguavoen

Former coach of the Super Eagles, Austin Eguavoen, has hailed the team’s performance against Mexico in a friendly played this week, as impressive.

The Nigerians were held to a goalless draw by the North Americans, in a game played in front of a record crowd of 68,220 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Eguavoen praised Stephen Keshi for fielding new faces and backed the Eagles to perform well at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“It was a high tempo game – they showed in the game that they could cope with pace and speed of teams at the World Cup. The style was a bit difficult but they adjusted well. They tried to hold the ball, dominate possessions and create chances. Their performance on the overall brings many positives as they performed above average though there is room for better improvement,” Eguavoen said on AIT.

“They held the Mexicans out for most period of the game and could have converted one of their several chances. They did so well, showed plenty of promises and did impress many Nigerians in the preparation for the World Cup. Good composure in the defence with Leon impressive in the encounter within his brief stay on the pitch.”

The former Nigeria international, however did not hide his disappointment at the strikers profligacy in front of goal and blamed the lack of understanding with the midfielders as the problem.

“I expected Emmanuel Emenike to have scored today if he was a box player but the problem was with the midfielders being choked and their failure to dominate in the area didn’t allow him get the needed backup. Emenike was playing deep and had little support from the midfield line – with Ogenyi Onazi and John Mikel Obi,” he added.

“There are a lot of positives to take from this game – though I will have expected to see a bit of the Enugu Rangers man Ejike Uzoenyi to bring in more creativity alongside Ramon Azeez.”