Greatest of All Legends

Chapter 352: Round 4 of AFCON 22 Qualifiers III

“… Jason, you’ll be coming off for Joey Aribo in the second half,” the first words of Gernot Rohri set off a wave of confusion in the Nigeria team’s locker room.

Jason’s mouth dropped open in shock and confusion, but before he could object to the manager’s decision, Gernot Rohri continued talking.

“Iwobi, will also be coming off for Williem Troust-Ekong,”

“We have done well in the first half and have been able to secure a three-goal lead, and in the coming second half, I want you guys to switch to a more defensive gameplay so we can hold out against the pressure from our desperate opponents,”

“We already have a three-goal lead so as long as we can do enough defensively, then there shouldn’t be any problems with ending the match in our victory,”

“Hence we will be changing our formation to 5-3-2 with Williem joining the two center backs, Joey joining the two midfielders in the center and Musa will move towards the center and join Osimen as a center forward,”

“Our two strikers will stay upfront and wait for an opportunity to catch our opponents on the counter while the rest of you will have to focus on keeping the ball away from our opponents and stopping them from scoring,”

“Is that clear enough to you guys?” Gernot Rohri asked after speaking.

“Yes… but why are we going defensive all of a sudden when we’re winning by three goals to nil?” Ahmad Musa immediately took the opportunity to ask the manager about his strange decision.

“Because it’s less risky that way,” Gernot Rohri answered.

“I don’t have to remind you what happened in the last match when we got comfortable after taking the lead,”

“Our opponents are professional footballers who have the capability to punish us should we make the slightest mistake and from the tally they racked up against us in the previous match, it’s not impossible for them to score against us,”

“So far in the qualifiers stage, we already have three wins and if we end this match with a win, our qualification for the AFCON 22 is as good as confirmed so I think it’s better for us to play it safe for the rest of the match,”

“Also, with how desperate our opponents have gotten, they may start making deadly tackles on our guys if we keep the pressure high on them, hence my decision,” the manager took a swig of a bottle of water after saying all that at a stretch.

The dissension that had threatened to arise when the manager had first started speaking had quietened down at this moment.

Most of the players still didn’t agree with the manager’s decision, but after hearing his explanation, they could see the justification for his decision.

Also, even if they didn’t see it, it wouldn’t matter as he was the manager and they had to do what he wanted if they wanted to keep being called to the national squad during the international breaks.

Jason wasn’t happy about the manager’s decision to take him off, but there was nothing he could do about it and he grudgingly began to take off his equipment while the manager began to further explain the new tactic.

He no longer bothered to listen to the manager explain the game plan as it no longer mattered to him since he was going to be watching the game from the bench in the second half.

Fifteen minutes after the whistle was blown, the players of the two teams were back on the field and ready for the second half.

*Fweeeeeee*

{The referee’s whistle has been blown and the second half of this game has taken off}

{After a thunderous bashing from Nigeria in the first half, Sierra Leone will be looking to somehow make a comeback despite the odds of them being successful looking as low as it can get}

{However, football is a game of “never say never” and we will see what the second half brings}

{It looks like the Nigeria side looks a bit different this second half}

{They seem to have a different shape from the previous half and there have been changes made to the line-up}

{The changes are a bit unexpected, and it looks like a tactical decision} the commentator immediately got down to his job as soon as the second half started.

The changes made to the team was quickly noticed by everyone watching the game and all the Nigeria fans couldn’t believe what their manager had done.

In a beautiful house in the city of Lagos, a man sat down comfortably on his couch and watched the television screen with a slight frown on his face.

“This man has started his nonsense again,” the man scoffed as he saw the line-up changes on the Nigerian team when the second half kicked off.

“What did he do?” a woman seated on the same couch a few centimeters away from him looked up from her phone to ask.

“He has started his nonsense defensive tactics again,” Femi Badmus said, face palming as he watched in annoyance as the Sierra Leone team started pressuring the Nigerian players right off the bat of the second half.

“Everytime, any small lead that we have and he will want the players to start playing defensive football,” Femi groaned in annoyance.

It was obvious that he was fed up with Gernot Rohri’s antics.

“We have good attacking players, and we are already leading by three goals, but instead of this stupid man to put even more pressure on the opponent and let the players score more, he wants the players to start playing defensively,”

“Rubbish!” Femi spat out with venom laced in his tone.

“Don’t call him a stupid man. At least the team is winning matches, let him do his job,” Jola said with a glance at her husband and then at the television.

“Hmph!” Femi scoffed and returned his eyes to the screen.

He preferred to watch his team play attacking football and anything less than that felt like a sore on the eyes, hence he didn’t like what he was watching, but he could not do much more than complain.

**

#59th minute…

After the second half began, the Nigeria team had gone on the defensive and their opponents had taken the opportunity presented to them to push hard at their opponents as they began to look for the goal that would give them a lift in the game.

It wasn’t easy as the Nigerian team was doing their best to keep them away from their goal by any means possible, but when inviting pressure, there was always a risk that came with it and it began to look like the Nigerian team would succumb to the pressure.

A chance soon came for the Sierra Leone team as their left winger managed to break free on the left flank before sending in a curling cross into Nigeria’s penalty box.

The Nigerian players immediately got to work trying to defend the ball and prevent anyone in a blue shirt from reaching the ball, but all they managed to do was hassle the Sierra Leone striker enough to get him to hit the ball slightly off target after managing to out jump the Nigerian players.

{Header!} the commentator screamed, but the ball was slightly off target and slammed against the post before bouncing back into play.

The Nigerian players immediately chased after the ball, but they were a split second too late as a player in a blue jersey appeared behind the ball and slammed it back in the direction of the Nigerian goal.

Madika Okoyi lunged at the ball and got his hand to it in time, but he wasn’t able to completely push it away and the ball smashed off the back of his hand into the goal.

{GOAL!}

{It’s early in the second half and Sierra Leone already have one back!}

{Is this merely a consolation, or is this the beginning of a comeback!?} The commentator’s excited shouts gave life to the Sierra Leone fans watching the game, igniting their hopes for a comeback from their team.

#82nd minute…

After getting a goal back against Nigeria, the Sierra Leone players had put forth their utmost effort to try and get another goal, but so far they had fallen short against the Nigerian team that had begun defending desperately, not wishing for their opponents to get one back against them.

However, the Sierra Leone team did not give up and constantly moved the ball around, looking for the breakthrough chance and an opportunity soon presented itself as a splitting through was made by a Sierra Leone midfielder to the striker who was making a run.

Williem Troust Ekong immediately reacted and held off the striker from running past the defense line, so the striker changed his direction slightly and just managed to reach the ball before it rolled past him and kicked it down the right flank.

The Sierra Leone right winger ran up to the ball and sent a lobbed pass over to the left flank where the Sierra Leone left winger was making a run.

The left winger caught the ball on his chest as he ran into the penalty box and soon brought the ball down to his feet before pushing forward.

Balogun Leone immediately gave chase and tried to stop the player before he reached the goalkeeper, but he was too late and the left winger sent the shot flying past Madika Okoyi, making it two goals for his club.

{GOAL!!!}

{They have two!}

{Are we about to witness the impossible here!?} The commentator screamed in excitement while the Sierra Leone players quickly began heading back to the middle of the field with the ball.

#87th minute…

After getting their second goal, Sierra Leone’s attacking play became even more frantic and they soon found themselves with another opportunity that could give them the equalizer they wanted so badly.

The left winger had managed to somehow blow past Ola Aina and had sent a grounded cross behind the defensive line and the Sierra Leone striker had managed to get away from his marker and appeared in the path of the ball.