AFCON 2025 Diary Day 6: Short Corner Genius, Chelle’s Reality Check, Super Eagles’ Fez Fight And More!

Day 6 (Tuesday, 23 December, 2025)

A Short Corner Kick Call That Changed Everything

“Eagles should play a short corner, Eagles should play a short corner, they should play a short corner…..”

That was me shouting in the media tribune of the Complexe Sportif de Fez here in Morocco as the Super Eagles finally got their AFCON 2025 campaign under way against Tanzania.

It was the 36th minute of the game and Nigeria was about to take an umpteenth corner kick. A few minutes earlier, another corner kick opportunity had resulted in a physical combat in the Tanzania goal area as the Taifa Stars struggled to hold off their Nigerian opponents. Center referee, Dahane Beira, from Mauritania had to intervene before relative calm was restored but the resultant long corner kick by Samuel Chukwueze was cleared by the resolute Tanzanians.

Also Read: AFCON 2025 Diary Day 5: Fed Govt. Motivates Super Eagles, Tanzania Memories, Chelle’s Calm And Eagles’ Mission In Fez

So, when a second corner kick came soon after and the Tanzanians started grabbing at Victor Osimhen and company yet again, I saw a huge gap at the near post in front of Chukwueze as he prepared to take the kick. That was when I started shouting to no one in particular: “Eagles should take a short corner, they should take a short corner…..”

As though, Ademola Lookman heard me, I saw the Atalanta FC striker sprint into the huge gap at the near post toward the corner flag. Chukwueze saw him approaching and quickly played a short corner to him in the Tanzanian area. Lookman circulated the ball to Alex Iwobi just outside the 18-yard box and the Fulham FC midfielder lifted a delicious ball back into the goal area. Those quick movements of the ball disoriented the Tanzanians and Semi Ajayi nodded the floated ball home virtually unmarked to give Nigeria a 1-0 lead.

I was seated with two Nigerian reporters to my right in the media tribune. Both of them congratulated me for “making the call” as they put it. Another Moroccan colleague seated to my left also gave me a high-five. “Congratulations, mon ami, he said in French.

Lookman, Ajayi and a Winning Start for the Eagles

My moment of technical genius (permit me to claim my plaudits) had led to Nigeria’s opening goal. The goal reminded me of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s quick corner kick to Divock Origi which resulted in a fourth goal for Liverpool as they knocked Barcelona out in the 2019 UEFA Champions League.

Also Read: AFCON 2025 Diary, Day 4: Mr. Chef Partnership, Super Eagles’ Spirit And Morocco’s Opening Night Win

Nigeria needed such quick thinking and smart plays to outwit a stubborn Tanzania, and Ademola Lookman provided it yet again by restoring Nigeria’s lead in the second half after the East Africans had grabbed a surprise equalizer through Charles M’Mombwa. Shifting the ball from his right leg to the left just outside the goal area, smashed an unstoppable left foot shot to leave Tanzania’s goalkeeper Zuberi Foba with no chance. It turned out to be the decisive goal of the match as the Eagles got off to a winning start with three points in the bag.

This is not a match report, so I won’t elaborate on other highlights of the game. This is my personal diary, so I had to start with my personal contribution to Nigeria’s victory (Lol). But joking aside, my overall verdict on Nigeria’s performance is no different from that of most observers, who have variously described the win as laboured, ponderous, difficult, unconvincing, but not undeserved. The unanimous opinion is that the Super Eagles have to improve significantly if they are not to be blown away by their next opponents, Tunisia here in Fez on Saturday. The North Africans showed their mettle with a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Uganda in the group’s second fixture in Rabat.

Chelle Admits Work Ahead as Tunisia Loom

I was happy when Eagles coach Eric Chelle admitted at the post-match conference that his team had plenty of work to do ahead of their second game against the Tunisians. I was seated in the front row in the briefing room, just about five meters away from the coach as he took questions from the media.

“I am happy with the three points (against Tanzania) because it is very important to start a tournament with a win like this,” he said. “It was a game of high intensity. I have my vision and I made some choices. Some of my choices were good and some of them were not so good. We have to analyse the whole game. I know that we do have a lot of work to do before our next game against Tunisia. The second game is about tactical choice while the third game (against Uganda) is about mathematics (of qualifying for the next round). I just want to be focused on the present, not the past or the future. And the present for me now is to prepare well for the next game.”

That is the summary of Chelle’s viewpoints at the conference and I was quite happy to hear that. If the man in charge of the Eagles himself has admitted that his team has a lot to improve upon, the rest of us can only keep our fingers crossed and hope that we will see that improvement in the next game. The only worry is that one is bound to wonder what exactly the team had been doing in training for the past two weeks which they now hope to correct in the next few days. When Chelle was asked exactly what he would be changing ahead of the next game, he said that would be revealing his tactical game plan which he wasn’t going to do.

Individual Performances, Selection Concerns and Sanusi Worry

There were some positives against Tanzania, however. Goalscorer and man-of-the-match Semi Ajayi was fully deserving of his award with a stellar performance. But the brightest player on the Eagles side for me was the 2024 African Footballer of the Year, Ademola Lookman. He was very sharp with his movements and if the midfielders Alex Iwobi and captain Wilfred Ndidi had found him (Lookman) more frequently with their passes, he would have done more damage as the Tanzanian defenders seemed to focus more on stopping Victor Osimhen.

Also Read: AFCON 2025 Diary, Day 3: Morocco’s Arab Cup Glory, Eagles’ Camp In Fez And CAF’s Historic Decision

Talking of Osimhen, he was obviously disappointed not to score and he couldn’t hide his displeasure when Chelle substituted him for Paul Onuachu toward the end of the game. Samuel Chukwueze who spurned a couple of scoring chances in the first half was equally unhappy at being yanked off early in the second half. Chelle was asked at the post-match conference about the reaction of both players to which he said he knows how to handle them. “Big players like the ones I have in my team always want to be treated in a special way, so that is not a problem for me,” he said. “I have a responsibility to do what I think is best for the team, so I have to take these decisions.”

One key decision that I hope Chelle would also take is to find a solution to Zaidu Sanusi on the left side of Nigeria’s defence. In my opinion, he was the poorest player on the pitch against Tanzania and the Tunisian strikers must be licking their lips if Sanusi puts up a similar poor show against them. The other thing Chelle needs to change is for the whole team to play with more urgency. Their slow buildup play gives their opponents too much time to organize themselves defensively.

A Warm Reunion With Sunday Oliseh in Fez

FORMER Super Eagles captain and coach, Sunday Oliseh was in Fez for the Nigeria-Tanzania game as a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) team of technical analysts. I ran into him…….Oh, actually, he ran into me! …….when he stopped over at the media center. As I turned around, there he was grabbing me by the shoulders and giving me a big hug.

Sunny and I go back a long, long way. I visited to interview him in Belgium when he played for RFC Liege, in Holland when he played for Ajax Amsterdam, and back in Belgium when he rounded off his playing career with Genk. I also covered his career with the Super Eagles en route to USA’94 FIFA World Cup and with the U-23 Dream Team at Atlanta’96 Olympic Games. “This man, you don’t want to grow old,” he said to me, drawing laughter from the few journalists around.

One of the journalists was a young lady photographer, Lateefat, who said she was actually reading both my autobiography and Oliseh’s autobiography on her way to Morocco. “I have read your books. What a coincidence that I am meeting both of you together here, I am so excited,” Lateefat said as we took photographs.

Before kickoff against Tanzania, I saw Oliseh descend the steps from the VIP section into the playing arena to greet Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle and other backroom staff in the team dugout. How I wish the current Eagles could play with the same hunger and determination of Oliseh’s era. My feeling is that talent is not lacking in the present Eagles. What is missing is the never-say-die spirit of the Eagles of yore.

Nigerian Fans, Rain, Songs and a Missed Thank You

NIGERIA enjoyed massive support from the locals in the match against Tanzania. For a match not involving the host country, the 11,444 fans that turned out for the game was quite impressive and most of them were rooting for the Super Eagles.

Also Read: AFCON 2025 Diary: Casablanca Touchdown, Midnight Memories And The Road To Fez

There were quite a number of Nigerians in the crowd, as well. To my left from the media tribune, I could see a big Nigerian flag flown members of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club. At various times during the match, they were either chanting the usual “All we are saying, give us one goal”…….or…….”inside the net!, inside the net!”…… or…….”over the bar!, over the bar!” Hmmmmm. Can’t we do better than this after all these years? Well, I guess the chants serve their purpose since the players can relate to them.

To my far right from the media tribune was another large concentration of Nigerians whom I suspect must be Nigerian students in Morocco. One taxi driver, Muhammad, had informed us during of one my outings with my photographer Ganiyu Yusuf that there was a big contingent of Nigerian students in Moroccan universities. For most part of the game they and the Moroccan fans were shouting “Victor!…Osimhen!!…..Victor!……Osimhen!!”

Those Nigerian supporters deserve great credit for staying put in the rain to cheer the Eagles against Tanzania and I was disappointed to see the players walk off the pitch after the match without going out of their way to acknowledge them properly. Just a few claps above their heads from the center of the pitch was all the players gave, but it wasn’t good enough. Captain Wilfred Ndidi must do better to rally the players to say a better Thank You next time.

Respect From Young Journalists and a Tasty Mr Chef Nigeria Moment

I AM being treated here like a celebrity by young Nigerian journalists. Many of them come over to me to share their personal encounters with my work at Complete Football and Complete Sports and they want to take photographs with me. I hereby thank all of them for the honour and respect being extended to me.

Mr.ChefNigeria’s ‘Menu’ Coming

COMPLETE SPORTS photographer Ganiyu Yusuf came up with a brilliant idea for me to do a short video and photo shoot with a team of chefs that welcomed us to the media center at the Fez Stadium before Nigeria’s game. Decked in traditional Moroccan outfits of red waistcoats on white shirts with red caps to match, the chefs lined up happily to take the photo shoot and record the short video, powered by my sponsors, Mr.ChefNigeria.

Watch out for more on Mr.ChefNigeria’s partnership with the Super Eagles in my diary tomorrow. It’s going to be tasty……

By Mumini Alao, in Fez

Photos by Ganiyu Yusuf