Ohaka had a superb game and four other things we learned from Nigeria's loss to Costa Rica

The Super Eagles team comprised mainly of home-based players in the early hours of Thursday were beaten 2-0 by Costa Rica in their penultimate friendly in the year 2022.

Allnigeriasoccer.com here presents the five things noticed from the game at the San Jose National Stadium. 

1. Promising Start By The Eagles

The Super Eagles within the first minute of the match started like a house on fire, attacking the hosts down the middle which culminated in the foul to Ezekiel Edidiong. 

At this early stage, expectations were high. The Nigerians looked like they meant business. 

2. But Costa Rica Gained Dominance 

However the hosts began to assert themselves into the game, winning most of the second balls and pressing the Eagles high up in their own half. 

3. Ohaka The Eagles Bright Spark

There was one Super Eagles player who showed plenty of promise in the game - Dominion Ohaka. 

The right wing back troubled the Costa Ricans with his directness and pace. He unleashed some shots from distance but none found target. 

Ohaka was also back in defence to do his beat in stopping the Costa Ricans who were not relenting in finding the goals. 

Allnigeriasoccer.com's opinion is that Ohaka gets the chance to play some cameo role in the Super Eagles clash against Portugal to further show what he is capable of. 

There is some serious talent there. 

4. Losing The Ball

The Super Eagles team coached by Salisu Yusuf were guilty of losing possessions a lot more than the hosts did. 

They gave the ball away and were ponderous in fighting to regain it. 

5. Defending Set pieces 

Both goals scored by Costa Rica were from set pieces, corner kicks that were poorly defended by the Nigerian defence. 

Nigeria national teams have continually failed to provide good defensive structure at the back when defending set pieces. 

This is what the technical crew must work. A lot of matches have been lost by the team on the account of poor defending of corners, freekicks, etc. 

Izuchukwu Michael
   

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