Nigeria Under-23 team clinched the bronze medal of the men’s football event at the Rio 2016 Olympics with a 3-2 win over Honduras.
Owngoalnigeria.com in it’s usual way brings to you how the Nigerian players fare during the course of the game.
Emmanuel Daniel: Produced three top draw save to deny Honduras from scoring early, but was at fault for the second goal Nigeria conceded as he was caught in no man’s land after he failed to read properly a high ball into the box….7/10
Shehu Abdullahi: Had a far better game than he did against Germany, but still didn’t do any enough in an offensive sense of view, lost his man who headed in Honduras second goal of the game….6/10
Stanley Amuzie: Another off day for the former Sampdoria target who was very poor defensively although decent going forward, lost his man on numerous occasion and allowed too many crosses from his flank….4/10
William Troost Ekong: The tank at the back for Nigeria, towering in aerial duel and strong in physical contest, need to work on his pass out of defence though but overall covered himself in glory not just against Honduras but all tournament long….8/10
Sincere Seth: Was no where near his best against Honduras, lost most of his duels and was poor in terms of his positional awareness, lucky to have a player like Ekong next to him who did most of the mopping up for him….5/10
Usman Muhammed: Rediscovered the form that made him a hit with FC Taraba in the Nigeria Premier League few seasons ago, dovetailed nicely with Mikel and Okechukwu in the middle….7/10
Azubuike Okechukwu: Returned from suspension and immediately brought stability to the Nigerian midfield, covered up lots of grounds, robbed Honduras off the ball severally, left many wondering if Nigeria would have beaten Germany if he wasn’t suspended for the tie….8/10
Mikel Obi: Captain fantastic, didn’t put a foot wrong all game long, had a hand in all of the goals scored by Nigeria. Honduras had no answers to his dominance in the middle….9/10
Imoh Ezekiel: Struggled to hit the heights that has made him defenders nightmare during the course of the tournament, failed to get among the goals but gave the Hondurans a torrid time with his strength and endless running….7.5/10
Aminu Umar: Scored his second goal of the tournament and unlike against Germany put in a shift defensively for the team and appeared to have struck some form of understanding with Sadiq….8/10
Sadiq Umar: Big, strong and skillful, he silenced his critics with a brace and was only denied a hattrick by some fantastic goalkeeping, proved Siasia was right in sticking with him against Honduras after the criticism that trailed his display against Germany in the semi-final….8.5/10.
Substitutes:
Kingsley Madu: Came on for Ezekiel and appeared lost in an advanced role, didn’t do enough defensively as well despite been brought on to shore up the backline….4/10
Saturday Keigo Erimuya: Finally had some minutes at the Olympics ironically on a Saturday, the day he is named after, but bar a neat steal at the edge of the Nigeria box to deny Honduras a shot at goal didn’t have enough time to warrant a rating.
