ANALYSIS: How Sudan exposed Nigeria’s deep football problems at CHAN 2024

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12 August is already a sad day in Nigerian football history. It was on that day in 1989 that Sam Okwaraji collapsed and died during a World Cup qualifier in Lagos.

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But now, 36 years later, the date carries another painful memory. On Tuesday, 12 August, Nigeria’s home-based national team, the Super Eagles B, suffered a heavy 4–0 defeat to Sudan, matching the country’s joint-heaviest loss in the African Nations Championship (CHAN).

The defeat was shocking not only because of the scoreline, but also because of the situation of the team that beat Nigeria.

Sudan’s domestic league has not been active since 2022 due to the war in the country.

Their two biggest clubs, Al-Hilal and Al-Merreikh, have been forced to play in Mauritania’s Super D1 league to keep fit.

Yet, Sudan — with players who have had no regular home competition for two years — outplayed and overpowered a Nigerian side coming from an active Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).

From hope to humiliation

At the Amman Stadium in Zanzibar, Nigeria actually started with a moment of hope. In the early minutes, Anthony Ijoma thought he had given the team the lead, but VAR ruled the goal out for offside.

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Only three minutes later, the mood changed completely. Sudan’s Abdelraouf Yagoub hit a shot that bounced off the post, hit Nigerian defender Leonard Ngenge, and rolled into the net for an own goal.

Things got worse. Before halftime, Ngenge conceded a penalty after handling the ball in the box.

Sudan scored to make it 2–0. In the second half, Abdelrazig Omer Yagoub struck twice more in the 55th and 62nd minutes to complete the humiliation.

By the end of the game, Nigeria had zero points, zero goals, and were officially out of CHAN 2024 with one game still to play.

It was the worst CHAN result in Nigeria’s history. Head coach Eric Chelle did not hide his feelings, calling it “the worst game I’ve overseen.”

Tactical missteps and wrong player use

Chelle’s team list drew attention from the start. Out of the 23-man squad, nine players came from NPFL champions Remo Stars, including captain Junior Nduka and midfielder Olamilekan Adedayo.

Some critics felt this was too much from one club, but it is worth noting that Sudan had an even higher concentration, with 18 players coming from just two clubs.

The real problem was not which clubs the players came from, but the system they were asked to play. Chelle used a 4-4-2 diamond formation — a style that has become rare in modern football and does not match the strengths of most NPFL players.

The Nigerian league is known for wing play and direct attacks, but this formation removes wide players and relies heavily on a creative central midfielder.

Nigeria has not produced many of those in years, especially since the days of Austin “Jay-Jay” Okocha.

Without a natural defensive midfielder, the team’s middle was weak, and opponents could easily attack through it. Some players were also placed in positions they were not used to.

For example, Raymond Tochukwu, an attacking midfielder, was made to play as a defensive midfielder. Olamilekan Adedayo, a central midfielder who likes to break lines, was pushed further forward.

Akanni Qudus, a strong midfield enforcer, was sent to the wing, where he struggled to deliver crosses to the experienced but ageing striker Sikiru Alimi.

The result was a team that kept the ball but had no idea what to do with it. Across the two group games, Nigeria struggled to have even a single shot on target.

Defence in disarray

The defence collapsed early in the Sudan match and never recovered. Young Ngenge had a nightmare, scoring an own goal and giving away a penalty. Captain Junior Nduka tried to cover, but the backline was constantly caught out.

Goalkeeper Lawal Mustapha could not save the day and was often left exposed.

Chelle summed it up simply: “We made too many mistakes… four goals, four mistakes.”

Poor preparation and player losses

Nigeria’s problems began long before the first whistle in Zanzibar. Seven players from the initial squad did not make it to the tournament.

Five of them had moved abroad, making them ineligible for CHAN, and two more were lost to injury or youth national team duties.

Preparation was also weak. The team had only one training camp, held at the Remo Stars facility, and just two friendly matches against Zanzibar right before the tournament.

This left very little time for building understanding between players or testing tactics.

Even Sudan’s coach, Kwesi Appiah, noticed Nigeria’s lack of sharpness. While praising their tactical moments, he said they only needed “polishing with the attack” — a polite way of pointing out they had no finishing power.

Brutal reality check

Former Super Eagles striker Brown Ideye spoke openly after the game with a scathing post on his X Page:

“Let’s keep lying to ourselves and keep blaming someone else every time we fail. We’re not good enough — that’s the bitter truth. It’s what you have the coach will work with, period. And we don’t have what it takes to compete on the bigger stage. And we keep lying to ourselves.”

When some people criticised him for being harsh, Ideye doubled down:

“You’re one of them that thinks we have the best league in Africa, shame… the result you saw yesterday shows that we have a long way to go when it comes to bringing out good talents from the home league.”

His comments underline the deeper issue — Nigeria’s domestic football is not producing enough quality players to succeed at this level.

CHAN history and the missed opportunity

Nigeria has done well in past CHAN tournaments, finishing third in 2014 and as runners-up in 2018. But the country did not qualify for the last two editions, making the 2024 edition their first appearance in seven years. The aim was to make a strong return. Instead, it turned into a disaster.

What must change

The loss to Sudan was not just about bad tactics or poor defending. It was the product of weak preparation, poor player management, and long-standing issues in Nigerian football. These problems have been visible in past CHAN campaigns, but the heavy defeat in this game has made them harder to ignore. If Nigeria truly wants to be competitive at CHAN, the NFF must start treating it as a serious tournament and not as an afterthought.

This means giving the team enough time together through longer training camps so the players can build understanding and fitness. It also means working early to secure the availability of key NPFL players, rather than scrambling for a squad at the last minute.

The coaching crew must adopt a playing style that fits the strengths and realities of home-based footballers, rather than trying to copy tactics better suited for Europe-based stars.

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Finally, the team needs more quality friendly matches against strong opponents before the tournament, so weaknesses can be spotted and fixed before it is too late.

The NPFL itself needs better funding, proper youth academies, and improved coaching standards. Player selection should be transparent, and administrative mistakes — like losing players to last-minute transfers — must be avoided.

As Ideye warned, if Nigeria keeps “lying to ourselves” about the quality of the domestic league, defeats like this will happen again. For now, the Super Eagles B will try to salvage pride against Congo, but the real challenge is fixing the system before the next CHAN.