Eric Sekou Chelle must be rubbing his hands in glee after watching the buzzing performance of what was essentially Nigeria's second-string team as they beat Uganda 3-1. The win was a statement to the rest of the field at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Midfielder Raphael Onyedika was the undisputed star of the show, capping off a stirring, textbook display with a brace, while Paul Onuachu saw one of his best games for Nigeria rewarded with a goal, becoming the 70th Nigerian player to score a goal in the Africa Cup of Nations, more than any other team.
But the Super Eagles were again plagued by a familiar trouble, allowing the opposition a soft goal late in the game when they were cruising. Rogers Mato sneaking in behind to rip an unstoppable effort past Francis Uzoho.
For the group finale against the Cranes, the Super Eagles coach made eight changes from the side that similarly deconstructed Tunisia for nearly 80 minutes of their second group game. Forward Victor Osimhen, who took up the armband in the absence of regular captain Wilfred Ndidi, defenders Calvin Bassey and Bruno Onyemaechi were the only survivors from that game.
Blackburn Rovers defender Ryan Alebiosu was handed his first appearance for the Super Eagles and Igoh Ogbu won his second in a near-unrecognisable Nigeria team.
Although the pace looked slower than previous games, expectedly so for what was a dead rubber, the Nigerians never looked like they were in any danger of even drawing the game.
In the end, the Super Eagles finished with a perfect group stage record, nine points out of nine and await the third best-placed team from group F.
Onyedika shows up, shows out
Over the last few years, Nigeria's midfield has looked somewhat thin and stagnant, with just Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi as the two constants of quality. In that time, fans have been calling for the inclusion of the likes of Frank Onyeka and Onyedika.
After Tuesday night's performance, it will be hard to see how Onyedika does not exponentially add to the meagre 17 caps he came into this tournament with.
Playing in the deep-lying role, the midfielder emerged as, quite simply, the best player on the pitch by a mile and a half on a day of stellar Nigeria performances.
Onyedika showed cultured composure, rarely lost possession but was aggressive about winning the ball without being unnecessarily reckless, just putting poetry into the art of ball-winning. Uganda barely got a look at the Super Eagles defence as a result, and as if that was his not enough, he showed impeccable offensive timing to arrive in the box twice for both his goals.
Onyedika does not have the engine or athleticism of Ndidi and Onyeka, but he more than makes up for that with his cultured style, a throwback to days of yore when another Onyedika, Ifeanyi, played forward for Nigeria at the 1980 Cup of Nations. A big man himself, playing striker, that Onyedika displayed similar attributes, with his strength, ability to hold up the ball and link up play for the goalscoring midfielders like Muda Lawal and Aloysius Atuegbu to arrive in the box and inflict damage. Like Raphael, Ifeanyi was neither the quickest, nor the most athletic, but he made up for it with his strength in the air and a sweet first touch.
All of a sudden, there are plenty of quality bodies including Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, the Lazio man who got the assist for Onuachu's goal with his tireless running and precise passing. This is not just for the present, but for the future, too with Tochukwu Nnadi and Ebenezer Akinsanmiro waiting in the wings.
Nigeria show scary squad depth
To make eight changes to the starting lineup and still play with the quality that the Super Eagles did is not to be taken for granted and shows a strength in their depth.
In 2019, Gernot Rohr made just three changes to his Super Eagles team and got beaten 2-0 to first place by Madagascar.
At first glance, the lineup looked like a weak, inexperienced side compared to the regular starting eleven. Alebiosu and Ogbu had one cap between them coming into the game. Dele-Bashiru had nine, Onyedika 17 and Onuachu 25.
In truth, this was a really experienced team, with a significant number of appearances amongst them.
Moses Simon came in as the second highest-capped player in the squad with 89 caps and regular starter in the immediate past. Chidozie Awaziem, with his 37 caps coming into the tournament, was also a previous starter. Goalkeeper Francis Uzoho was in goal for Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup and Samuel Chukwueze has a half century of appearances and is constantly in the rotation. Even Bruno Onyemaechi at left back had only just dislodged the regular Zaidu Sanusi in the last game. And then there were Osimhen and Calvin Bassey.
Most countries competing at this tournament would give an arm and a leg to have a first team as strong as Nigeria's second string, even without Osimhen and Bassey. Going by the way they played, this team could compete and hold its own against all but maybe three teams at this tournament. By the hour mark, they had outpassed Uganda 263 to 113, a 70-30 spread and led by two goals. They finished the game with 71% possession and outshot the Cranes 12 to 5.
For comparison, Egypt switched out their team and were whiskers away from losing to Angola, ending the game tied 0-0.
If the players keep up this level, what it means is that Chelle can switch out any player at any time without a significant drop in quality, and that would not be good news for the opposition.
Like the coach Chelle himself said after the game, "If you want to win a trophy, you need 28 players, not 11 players. And tonight, they showed to Nigerians that we have a group that can win."
Selection headache for Chelle
Ed Dove praises Nigeria's strong performance vs. Uganda despite 8 changes to their starting XI.
What all of this means is that Chelle now has the kind of problem that every coach dreams of but dreads at the same time. How does he pick his next team while keeping his squad happy?
At the pre-match conference, the coach admitted that Chukwueze was not happy about being dropped for the game against Tunisia. For that contest, Chelle decided on fortifying the central midfield areas and went with Onyeka instead of the Fulham man, with Ademola Lookman and Akor Adams higher up.
Onyeka was outstanding, as was skipper Ndidi in the holding role. Enough has been said of Onyedika, And Chelle will have a hard time explaining to the Brugge man why he will not start the next game. Dele-Bashiru was similarly good and is now knocking on the door of Alex Iwobi's spot, even though that should remain an easy decision. Onuachu played a great game, and should have Adams concerned for certain, as did the much maligned Moses Simon, who was a major ankle-breaking threat all game long.
Alebiosu also made a lasting impression at right back, bombing forward to provide width and support the attack, a performance that was a shot across the bow to Bright Osayi-Samuel. Unfortunately, he suffered a deep laceration during the game and is now doubtful for the rest of the tournament, according to a media statement from the team.
It was not just the starters who showed out. Youngster Nnadi came on and showed that he could mix it with much more experienced players.
The one area everyone was looking out for was in goal, where Stanley Nwabali appears to have lost the confidence of large swathe of fans. Uzoho is not seen as much better and this was a game that afforded Nigerians a chance to have another look at him. While he did not have to make any spectacular saves, he was calm, controlled his area, plucked balls out of the air with confidence and showed nothing of the worrying temperament that has weaned Nigerians off of Nwabali. Still, this was not a shirt-winning performance and at best, it only served to reassure the fans that there is a more than reliable backup on the bench, if needed.
Defensive malaise continues
So it was not all kumbaya.
This would not be our current Super Eagles if they did not surrender to their baser failings and revert to the familiar malaise of giving up an easy goal.
Commendable as their play has been under Chelle, giving away late goals has become an all too regular pattern.
In 15 games under Chelle's management, including the pre-Afcon scrimmage against Egypt and up to Tuesday night against Uganda, the team has let in 15 goals. A goal allowed every game is a worrying enough statistic for any team with ambitions but what is more concerning is that seven of those goals have come after 70 minutes. Of that number, six came after 75 minutes and four after 80 minutes. Opposing teams will look at that and have hope until the very last minute.
Only three times have the team come from behind in those games, and two of those were in friendlies, against Russia and Egypt. The only other time they came from behind was against South Africa in World Cup qualifying.
What should also trouble Chelle is that a lot of those goals came from attacking players stealing in behind to blindspots at the far post, suggesting lapses in concentration from his defenders.
That is consistency of nature that neither he, nor the team needs. Defence wins championships is a regular mantra. Unless Chelle can find a solution to his leaky defence, a championship run will come to a grinding halt sooner rather than later.
Chelle sets goalscoring record
As much as the team are shipping goals, they are making up for it farther up the pitch. In the same timeline of Eric Chelle's tenure, they have scored 30 goals in 15 games. That is an impressive record, one that harks back to the days of the golden generation from the 90s, when the Super Eagles could always be counted upon to entertain and score goals.
Already, not only has Chelle gone his first 14 official games unbeaten -- the Egypt game was a kickabout not an official game -- he has also led his team to set a Nigeria scoring record at the group stage of the Nations Cup. The eight goals they have scored during this year's group stage is more than any Nigerian team has managed since their first appearance in 1963.
Only four times have the team even come close to that number, in 1976, 2000, 2002 and 2021 when they scored six goals.
If they keep up this firepower, they could well set a tournament record. But they will need to defend better if those goals are to lead to a trophy tour in three weeks.