Nigeria vs Mali: How it went

Yes we saw some vintage football from the much maligned(that includes me) Nigerian team today.They totally eclipsed the Malians in midfield and the nigerian attack was constantly making runs and getting behind the Malian back four most particularly on the right where a certain gentleman called Tamboura had an absolute nightmare. The first half saw a very disciplined Nigerian side playing the simple,can't go wrong,one touch game with penetrating passes from the likes of Mikel Obi and Victor Moses (who else) and good break up of Malian initiative by Onazi who appeared to have improved a lot. This is how they fared:
Emmanuel Emenike : Had his best game yet for the eagles. Gave the Malians constant nightmares as his physique and athletism was too much to handle. Showed a lot more intelligence than previously as he was able to time his run perfectly for a textbook Victor Moses pass and alas, played an inch perfect one touch cross behind the malian central defenders into an onrushing Brown Ideye  to stylishly tap in. Has he been reading my blog? Gave them all sorts of problems, was full of running and allways available for the cross from wide areas. Hold up play was equally good. No defender would've wished to play against him on the day! - 8/10
Brown Ideye: Had a very good game as well. Some good touches on the ball. Showed good athletism and technique for Nigeria's second goal. Combined well with Victor Moses and Emmanuel Emenike. 7/10
Victor Moses :Another vintage  performance. His quality was there for all to see. His trickery and sudden change of pace makes him a very special player. The English establishment are still biting their fingers as for the whole Trafalger Square, they still cant find a genuine flair player on the left. Victor is head and shoulders above the likes of Stewart Downing,Joe Cole  and even the upcoming Raheem Sterling for whom I have a lot of respect.For all the cheeky reasons, I hope we get to play against England in Brazil 2014. Victor turned his man inside out and left him for dead to produce an inch perfect cross for an overlapping Ichiejile to head in on the back post. Picked the ball from a midfield position and set up Emenike with a text book pass that split the Malian defence asunder thus leading to the second goal. Now I know why he makes the Brazilan Oscar sit on the bench at Chelsea. I think this tournament has signalled his arrival on the big stage . Picked an injury later in the game and had to be replaced. I sincerely hope he is available for the final -9/10
Ahmed Musa : The player you can always mistake for Tijani Babangida of yesterday and today's Aaron Lennon, made some great runs behind the Malian defence to connect with Mikel's defence splitting passes and arrive at a one on one with the Malian goalkeeper four times within a space of thirty minutes. Scored one and fluffed the other three simply because he wouldn't play in a better positioned player who would have simply tapped the ball into an empty net. Should be more clinical at this level. While you can't fault his pace and vision, you'd fault him on decision making as his team could rue such missed opportunities in a more evenly contested game. The game  could have easily ended six or seven nil if he had made obviously better decisions. Desperately needs to work on his final ball as it often undos the vision and breathtaking run that precedes it.He scores as low as 6/10 because of those misses.
John Obi Mikel: Undoubtedly the very fabric of the Nigerian team. I remember seeing Mikel for the first time in a 2005 World Cup group match with the U21s.He was supposed to be match rusty having not kicked a ball in six months as he was the subject of a lengthy battle between Chelsea and Manchester United. I saw him for fifteen minutes and I said he was a cross between Kanu and Jay jay Okocha having the elegance and simplitude of the former and the mesmerising skills of the latter. Even though he has since become a defensive midfielder,his overall quality in dictating the nigerian play, launching attacks from a deep position,defence splitting passing and tracking deadly opposition remains the very foundation  on which the entire Nigerian team is built. He rendered Seydou Keita anonymous and Mali could just not play. Thank GOD he is not blighted by injury because if I was playing against Nigeria,my match plan would simply be to get him off the field !  -9/10
Oge onazi : The Lazio youngster put up a much improved performance sitting in front of the back four.Made timely interventions to break up the Malian play.However finds himself drifting out of position and suddenly leaving the team without shape from a defensive point of view. Still learning the game and needs to understand that maintaining team shape is a core responsibility of the man in front of the back four.Unfortunately your senior national team is not the place to learn how to play high level football .God help us - 6/10.
Sunday Mba : Had a fairly subdued performance. thought  he would build up on his wonder goal and be more influential in this game. Needs to improve his work rate. If you don't have the ball skills of Eden Hazard, you can as well do with the industry of Ramires - 5/10
Godson Echiejile : I think he s the most improved Nigerian player in the past one year. Has finally emerged from the shadows of Taiye Taiwo. His hesitant and unassured participation have been replaced with confident and emphatic displays. I think a steady champions league and domestic run with Braga FC have made him a much more confident player who now believes he has earned his stripes. Covered his lines well defensively and was confident enough to overlap and score a flying header - 7/10
Efe Ambrose: Another player that has improved in this tourney . From the rash,nervous fullback who played in the first game to a more calculating and confident one these days . Still holds on too long to the ball sometimes  with too many attempted dribble runs one of which exposed the team when it was intercepted almost resulting in a Malian goal.Overall good performance on the day. 6.5/10
Godfrey Oboabana and Kenneth Omeruoh: His central defensive pairing with Kenneth Omeruoh has been Nigeria's better bet in this tourney as Joseph Yobo has been reduced to cameo roles . They've both held the lines well in open play. 6/10 apiece.
Joseph Yobo: Another cameo appearance with game done and dusted. Not a lot of time for assessment Looked heavy though and seemed to have a slight limp,appeared slow and injury prone.
Ejike Uzoenyi - Came on as a substitute for the injured Emenike, was expected to operate from the far right. Did not do much. 4/10
Vincent Enyeama - did the business when he was called upon. Saved two goal bound efforts when the Nigerian defence decided to watch the game like I did from my living room in far away Lagos.Stepped up to the plate. Remains a big match goalkeeper -7/10
However set pieces remain a concern for the eagles. I don't know what happened to the traditional man on either pole defending of corners and one on one marking during set pieces as on a few occasions there were one or two Malians roaming free in Nigeria s danger area during corner kicks. While we clearly dominated the game, we could have also lost it on the count of about five corner kicks that were very badly defended .A more technically adept side who have perfected the art of converting set pieces could have made us pay for this folly as we have often seen many sides lose to less illustrious opposition purely for failing to defend during set pieces. I would  also expect the likes of Ideye and  Emenike  to have specific roles in defending corner kicks like Drogba did for Chelsea FC beacause of his height.For now, its Well done to the eagles. I hope keshi is listening.