Publicly, at least, Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr was refusing to rule out Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hopes even after they clumsily stumbled out of the group stage and into the knockout stages at this year’s tournament in Egypt.

Nigeria vs South Africa: Ighalo looking to burst Bafana bubble(Opens in a new browser tab)

Despite winning two from three in the group stage, albeit unspectacular, it was the manner of their collapse against minnows Madagascar that left fans stunned. It is said in football that it is often a sign of a good team if you can learn to win without playing at your best. Twice that was the case for Nigeria before Madagascar came calling, smelling blood.

Nigeria, admittedly fielding an under-strength eleven, were well beaten 2-0 by Madagascar at the Alexandria Stadium, courtesy of goals from Lalaina Nomenjanahary and Carolus Andriamatsinoro, despite being hot favorites going into the tie. Many had tipped them to win the competition outright for the fourth time in their history, but it didn’t look likely after the group stage. News of captain John Obi Mikel being a major doubt for the rest of the tournament didn’t help matters.

But they did manage to beat the reigning champions, Cameroon, 3-2 in an exciting round of 16 encounter that saw them come from behind with two second half goals. They then followed this up with a 2-1 win over South Africa who shocked hosts Egypt in the previous round. Key players such as Wilfred Ndidi, Moses Simon and Alex Iwobi have all been inconsistent, but the team has managed to overcome this and find themselves one game away from the final.

OdionIghalo, who recently revealed that he turned down a move to Barcelona last January, hasn’t been on top form but he has registered three goals so far. He started the tournament slowly but he put in a match-winning performance against Cameroon with two goals and an assist.

Ighalo was widely fancied in the pre-tournament top scorer odds, but his price dropped before a recent resurgence in the tournament top scorer football betting up to second favorite. Former Manchester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho was left out of Nigeria’s squad altogether in a bold move from Rohr. The Iheanacho decision, in particular, is one which could have come back to haunt them, however, they appear to not need him based on their run so far.

The slow start could partially be attributable to a payment dispute which heavily affected their preparations- Nigeria’s national team at AFCON 2019 staged a strike and refused to train over unpaid bonuses ahead of a game against Guinea before ending their strike on Tuesday. This is nothing new or even out of the ordinary for African football. Indeed, Cameroon, Uganda and Zimbabwe have all been involved in similar disputes at this year’s event. As such, this is only a minor excuse for Nigerian under performing players.

More likely, rotation didn’t help as the team struggled to get an understanding between each other without the consistency, while complacency is also an issue but they appear to have ironed out these issues with Rohr opting for an approach that allows the opposition to dominate possession so they have opportunities to launch rapid counter-attacks.