Not many Nigerians gave the Super Eagles the chance of making any meaningful impact in the on-going African Nations Cup in Ivory Coast.

This was borne out of the performance of the team in their matches. I am sure only the NFF and players believed that they can prove book makers wrong at the tournament. Many Nigerians believed that the Eagles would be whitewashed by the Ivorians, and Equatorial Guinea. We had the confidence that we will only beat Guinea Bissau. Though, they came to Abuja the last time to shock the Eagles by a lone goal. The Eagles went to their country to pay them back in their own coins.

The Super Eagles went to the tournament with 22 goals , with only Victor Oshimen scoring 10 goals. Africans were scared of the Super Eagles attack, coupled with Victor Oshimen winning the African Player of the year.

At the Nations cup proper, the Eagles were lucky to have survived the Thunders of Equatorial Guinea. They came up to dealt a heavy blow on the host country defeating them by a lone goal. When we thought that the Eagles have landed, it took sheer luck to escape from Guinea Bissau. In the three qualifying  matches, the most dreaded attack before the tournament, scored only three goals conceeding one. They qualified along with the Thunders of Equatorial Guinea.
The implication of this is that the Super Eagles scored an average of one goal per match. It was also a truism that in most of the matches played, that the Eagles were defficient in taking shots at goals. The pressure on Oshimen was extremely too high, and in the process of trying to live up to expectations, he made a lot of mistakes . Oshimen can make the Eagles to land, if only he can be a little relax in front of goal. For sure, the Eagles created a lot of goal scoring chances, but the inabilities to convert them becomes more worrisome. 

Coach Pessiro and his playing pattern has shown that he is more defence conscious, thereby narrowing the abilities of the players expressing themselves effectively with the ball.
It will not be an understatement to say that Oshimen over worked himself in every match. He is always the sole striker up front, falling deep into the midfield to retrieve balls.
Now, the Eagles have qualified for the knock out stage of the tournament, Nigerians are expecting nothing but  decent results from all the remaining four matches. They have not forgotten how they were knocked out in the second round in the last AFCON in Cameroon.

 This Eagles can land comfortably in Ivory coast if they approach every match with the seriousness it deserves. The players should be more precise in front of goal, Oshimen can still make things happen, if only he can be calm in the last four.