AFCON2021: Five key takeaways from Nigeria's group stage performance at the AFCON

The Super Eagles rounded off their Group D campaign at the AFCON with a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau to finish top of the group with maximum 9 points, BSNSports.com.ng reports. Goals from Umar Sadiq and William Troost-Ekong secured all 3 points for Nigeria as the nation became the only team to qualify for the knockout stage with a 100% record. Here are five key takeaways from Nigeria's Group D campaign at the AFCON.

1. Eguavoen has a game plan

It was evident from the very first game against Egypt that the Super Eagles have a clear style of play. Augustine Eguavoen may have had little time to prepare the team for the competition but with the short time he has had, he has been able to implement a system in the team. Not only this, the ex-international has settled on a lineup as he maintained an exact same starting XI for the first two games of the competition. Kudos must go to the interim manager for a job well done so far.

2. Super Eagles wingers key to system

One important reason Nigeria's 4-2-2-2 formation under Eguavoen has been so effective at the AFCON is because of the wingers. The role of the wingers has been very vital to the system. So far at the AFCON, the Super Eagles are averaging about 13 successful dribbles per game and Moses Simon alone has completed 15 dribbles in total. As a matter of fact, in the 33 minutes he played against Guinea-Bissau, he completed 7 out of 7 dribbles. Stopping the Super Eagles wingers could be a important factor in defeating the team but at the moment, no nation has figured out how to do so yet.

3. Super Eagles share goalscoring burden

Nigeria has scored a total of 6 goals at the AFCON and remarkably, all 6 goals have come from 6 different players. Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Chukwueze, Taiwo Awoniyi, Moses Simon, Sadiq Umar and William Troost-Ekong are the goalscorers for the Super Eagles. The team has proven so far that a goal can come from anywhere and this is a good sign as opponents will be unable to focus on just one player in order to stop the Super Eagles from scoring.

4. Super Eagles have squad depth

Austin Eguavoen made as many as 8 changes to his starting XI for the game against Guinea-Bissau. This did not prevent the team from getting the job done and earning the required 3 points. The result, as a matter of fact, came with a clean sheet. With the many of the players rested for this game, Eguavoen will have fresher players when he returns to his preferred starting XI in the knockout stage.

5. Nigeria becomes tournament favourites

At the moment, Nigeria is the only nation at the AFCON with a 100% record. Apart from this, the Super Eagles have only conceded only one goal so far and that was a very debatable penalty against Sudan. The only nation yet to concede a goal at the AFCON is Senegal but the Teranga Lions are also finding it difficult to score. They have only scored one goal in three games and that was an injury time penalty in their opening group game. There are no obvious weakness in the Super Eagles team and this cannot be said of any other team. Even Cameroon, the highest scoring scoring side in the competition have conceded in every match so far. It will be very difficult to beat Nigeria at the AFCON and Nigerians can realistically dream about a fourth AFCON triumph in Cameroon.