‘Why did Nigeria not shut it?’
Yorke wonders if African teams take lessons from Cup
A World Cup that had so much promise for Africa could well end in massive disappointment should Senegal fail to book a spot in the knockout phase today.
The Lions of Teranga need to avoid defeat against Colombia in Group H to progress, having seen four of their fellow African teams stumble at the first hurdle.
Nigeria were the latest African side to bow out – joining Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia – on Tuesday after conceding an 85th-minute goal against Argentina to lose 2-1.
“It was so disappointing to watch,” said Dwight Yorke, a former Trinidad and Tobago striker who now works as an analyst for SuperSport.
“Let’s be truthful: some of the African teams were not up to the standard of others in their groups. Egypt and Morocco played well but perhaps were undone by inexperience. For me Nigeria were the biggest disappointment. They had such a great chance.”
Yorke, who played for Trinidad and Tobago in their only World Cup appearance in 2006, bemoaned the Super Eagles’ expansive approach after Victor Moses had got an allimportant equaliser from the penalty spot that cancelled out Lionel Messi’s opener. Marcos Rojo scored the winner for Argentina on 85 minutes.
“The circumstances favoured Nigeria. They were 11 with five minutes to go. They should not have conceded so late. They have an experienced manager [Gernot Rohr]. He should have recognised that only a draw was needed and tried to be more defensive, shut shop.
“But instead they became flamboyant, trying to score a second goal when a draw would have sufficed. The coach could have thrown in another defender there to keep things tight,” added the Trinidadian.
Nigeria supporters were all the more angered by Odion Ighalo’s horrible miss minutes before Rojo thundered in the winner for Argentina, and with such chances blown, Yorke is uncertain if African sides will ever learn.
“To see African teams going out like this is sad but the fact is every World Cup you hear ‘that’s a learning curve’. Yet they repeat the same mistakes. It takes four years to get to a World Cup.”