FWEEEE!
From the first minute of this game, one thing became very clear, Nigeria was the superior side.
On paper, they were the superior side and it showed on the pitch.
And since Nigeria was playing at home, buoyed by the loud noise of their home supporters as Sam watched the proceedings from the bench in awe, they dominated the visitors from Benin.
Nigeria started with a 3-4-3 formation against their opponents' 4-1-4-1 formation. Stanley Nwabali, the new face who displaced the former Nigerian number 1 during the last AFCON tournament to become the starting goalkeeper started in between the posts.
Ahead of him was the 3-center back partnership of Samuel Ajayi, William Troost-Ekong, and the solid Calvin Bassey.
The midfield comprised of Ola Aina, Ndidi, Alex Iwobi, and Onyemaechi.
As for the attack, the trio of Samuel Chukwueze, Victor Boniface, and Ademola Lookman started in that order from right to left.