As expected, Bright Esieme took the place of the suspended Solomon Kwambe and Ugonna Uzochukwu returned to partner Abdullahi Shehu in the center of midfield. The rest of the side was the same as in the win over hosts South Africa, and lined up in the same 4-2-3-1. Morocco was also 4-2-3-1.
One of the key features of the first half was the way in which the Super Eagles pressed. They generally let the Moroccan center backs have the ball, but pressed the central midfielders; Rabiu Ali and Gbolahan Salami worked in tandem, while the rest of the team got into two lines of four and tried to stay compact.
If ever there was a game to illustrate that in football, you can’t simply rinse and repeat tactically, this was it. The same approach that had held the hosts at arm’s length in the previous game was utterly ineffective here. In order to beat Nigeria’s medium block press, Morocco went long and direct. Their two defensive midfielders sat deep and were largely static, but the North Africans were not keen on winning the midfield battle. They simply targeted the angled runs into the channels of Mouhssine Iajour, whose pace and movement was excellent all game.
The plan was simple: one Moroccan wide player would make a run toward the ball, dragging one of the full backs high up the pitch with him, and Iajour would dart into the space and isolate a center back. This worked so often that it was surprising coach Stephen Keshi didn’t instruct the full backs to simply hold position and pass on the wide man. As early as the first minute, Iajour isolated Kunle Odunlami, held him off easily and had a shot saved. From then on, Azubuike Egwuekwe went everywhere with the striker. It was clear he didn’t trust his defensive partner in a 1v1 situation with Iajour, and this compromised defensive shape even further.
The Atlas Lions also did well with overloading sensitive areas of the pitch, notably their left flank. Going forward, Ifeanyi Ede played much higher than Ejike Uzoenyi on the other side, and was not always quick to get back in a defensive position to protect Esieme. The Enyimba full back was constantly doubled up on and passed around with quick one-twos. They overloaded the middle too, leaving four attacking players high up the pitch in order to precipitate counters. This led to the first goal, as the ball was needlessly turned over in midfield, and with the Super Eagles full backs advanced, Morocco were suddenly running at the Nigerian defence 3 on 2. Moutaouali scored with a delicate chip.
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