"It's not supposed to be like this. Nigeria, for at least two decades, have been a team that huffed and puffed, struggled with the weight of their own history and expectation, seemed always less than the sum of their parts. Even as they won the tournament in 2013, or got to the final in 2024, the sense of effort was palpable. Nothing came easily to them. They're not meant to be a side who canter through last-16 ties."
"On a foul night in Fez, though, the rain leaching across the stadium, Nigeria, inspired by Ademola Lookman, produced a performance of emphatic attacking quality and effectively had the game won with two goals before the half hour. Lookman put them ahead after 20 minutes with his third goal of the tournament, a typical finish into the top corner after a clever cutback from Akor Adams."
"For Nigeria, some things remain always the same. The bonus dispute that led to the players refusing to train two days before their World Cup qualifying playoff against DR Congo seems to have faded away, but their coach Eric Chelle revealed shortly before the tournament that he has not been paid for three months. There have been the familiar rows as well about media access, a constant sense of background grumbling and disharmony."
Nigeria produced a dominant attacking display in Fez, with Ademola Lookman directly involved in four goals as the team routed Mozambique. Lookman opened the scoring after 20 minutes, set up Victor Osimhen five minutes later, and provided further assists that led to a third and fourth goal early in the second half. The side arrived at the match with a history of effortful performances, scoring freely but remaining vulnerable defensively in earlier games. Persistent off-field issues persisted, including unresolved bonus disputes, unpaid coaching fees, media-access rows and background disharmony, yet the attacking performance was strikingly cohesive.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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