Will Nigeria still beat Cape Verde without Premier League stars?

Nigeria’s routine 2-0 victory over Liberia on Friday had a face only a mother could love.

So, when Gernot Rohr gushed afterward about the quality of the performance in the second half, it was easy to understand it as the effusiveness of a parent celebrating the little wins.

The reality on the ground was a little more pedestrian, far removed from the platonic ideal of good football, and quite a chore to sit through.

Two bits of quick thinking from Kelechi Iheanacho in the first half ensured the Super Eagles began on a strong note in the bid to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. However, for large portions of the game, Rohr’s side made heavy weather of asserting superiority against overmatched opponents.

The sodden nature of the pitch, beset by three days of near-constant rain, did little to help, of course.

On some instances, most notably early on when Moses Simon was presented with a decent opening one-on-one with the goalkeeper, the ball found scant purchase and stuck in the muck, forcing the nonplussed Nantes winger to beat a retreat and seek to recycle the ball. There were bobbles, awkward bounces and wet sloshes aplenty on a surface at Teslim Balogun that, even on the best of days, is hardly the best carpet obtainable.

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However, beyond even that, there was plenty to criticize: poor pressing structures, sub-optimal spacing in attacking situations, a lack of compactness between the lines of the team and an inability to control the opponent during defensive transitions.

Had Liberia possessed better quality and found favour from the inept match officials, they could have made hay at various points during the game.

That they did not owed to their own inefficiency, but also to the ability of several Super Eagles players to maintain a consistent level of performance irrespective of the chaos before them.

Iheanacho’s brace deservedly earned him an official ‘Man of the Match’ distinction, but behind him, Alex Iwobi adapted to the conditions to produce an inventive display, dappled with delightful little touches and marked by almost impeccable timing.

Wilfred Ndidi was masterful as always at recovering the ball while policing large swathes of space, but also at carrying it forward against pressure, especially in the second half.

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The centre-back pairing of William Troost-Ekong and Leon Balogun were close to impeccable on the sort of uncertain footing that can sometimes be the undoing of even the most experienced campaigner.

The former had a wobble or two, but nothing terminal; the latter recalled some of his finer performances advancing with the ball out of defence to unbalance the Liberian block.

While it is no surprise that the team’s finest performers would be those based in the United Kingdom – the Premier League is, after all, Europe’s highest-ranked per Uefa’s coefficient system – it nevertheless is a problem, considering the team will have to do without them for the trip to Cape Verde on Tuesday.

Along with the above four, Oghenekaro Etebo and Joe Aribo will also depart.

That leaves the Super Eagles without its most impressive and experienced players, a daunting prospect indeed.

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While Cape Verde are a respectable side, the real challenge that comes with facing them is less to do with their inherent quality and more in association with the artificial turf in Praia and the altitude. These conditions can be new and uncomfortable for some of the younger players in the squad, unaccustomed as they are to excelling in them.

The fact it was the team’s more experienced heads that adapted most readily to the playing surface in Lagos is instructive. With nous comes the ability to take setbacks on the chin, as they can draw on a wealth of information, but also on the certitude of their own fully-formed skillsets.

Even with the gutting of the squad, there is still enough quality to present a competent side capable of holding its own. That much is undeniable.

What cannot be replaced, however, is the equanimity and leadership that will be lost between the two matches: when the heat is on in Praia and heads begin to drop, rather than being able to look to Ndidi and Balogun, it will fall to the debuting Innocent Bonke to instol control in the middle and an impulsive pair of defenders in Kenneth Omeruo and Chidozie Awaziem to defend with quiet assuredness.

It raises the stakes and ramps up the jeopardy so much more.