The Nigerian bench didn’t make a substitution until well over 70 minutes. That leaves one in a big state of shock given the quality of players on that bench who could have been called upon to salvage the situation. Players like Osaze, Martins (though there were conflicting reports on his fitness), Kanu, Nsofor, any of these players could have come in (and that well on time) to salvage that attack before it got too bad, and by the time Kanu came in, it was Mikel who was substituted, Yakubu and Kalu who were obviously having a poor game especially the former were left playing.
Nsofor also came in late (over 80 minutes into the game) for Kalu, (Yakubu still left aimlessly roaming up and down the pitch), but he (Nsofor) made some impart, he created space for himself and fired two shots within few minutes of entry, one went off target, the other on target but saved by the Egyptian goalie, El-Hadari
So the question is why did it take so long for the Nigerian coach to make his first substritution when it was obvious that the game was not going his way? why did it take so long for the Nigerian coach to bring in an Nsofor till it was too late? Why did he leave a non-performing Yakubu playing for 90 minutes? Surprisingly Yakubu kept being started in the next two games, and the quarterfinal, as much as he continued his lack-lustre and uninspiring performances.
So the Super Eagles lost to an obviously better and more balanced Egyptian side. Egypt went on to win 3:1. This was how the Eagles though started the game well, but ended up poorly in the first game at the 2010 Angola Nations Cup. Amodu hereby makes his first loss in the team—Mixed impression from the Eagles and their handler, Amodu!
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