Nigerian media reacts to ‘excellent’ Semi Ajayi performance in 2-2 draw v Saudi Arabia
West Brom defender Semi Ajayi completed the full 90 minutes for Nigeria in their 2-2 draw against Saudi Arabia on 13 October.
Nigeria continued their Africa Cup of Nations 2024 preparations as they were held to a 2-2 draw in a friendly encounter on Friday evening (13 October).
Leicester City man Kelechi Iheanacho got on the scoresheet for the Super Eagles as both teams played an entertaining encounter in Saudi but Nigerian online outlet Sports Ration (10 September) was impressed by Ajayi’s performance.
The towering West Brom defender was given a match rating of 7/10: “Played in Central defence with Fulham FC defender Calvin Bassey. Semi is always a good passer of the ball, successfully completing 92% of his passes and making excellent tackles to recover the ball. AFCON bound.”
Baffling
Ajayi has become a crucial figure for his country over the past six months, and his performance against Saudi Arabia showed, but that wasn’t to do with his defensive qualities but indeed his qualities on the ball.
However, he isn’t getting the same opportunities at West Brom so far this campaign, starting just seven of their 11 Championship games so far and benched for their last two games, which is baffling.
A tall, athletic, strong and defensively sound centre-back but most of all, an experienced one, Ajayi offers a totally different profile to what Carlos Corberan currently possesses at centre-back.
There’s a case to be made that the Baggies certainly would lose their solidity without the towering defender which was shown in their 3-1 defeat to Birmingham last week (6 October).
Ajayi is a big-time West Brom performer and just the man to lead the back-line in Dara O’Shea’s absence after his summer exit which means Corberan’s defence is in very capable hands when the Nigerian starts.
However, it’s just a case of whether Carlos Corberan knows it too. He’s got to return to the team when they restart their league aspirations against Plymouth Argyle (21 October).
In other West Brom news, a chance for one key Baggies attacker to prove he has a future at The Hawthorns after another fresh injury blow for Corberan.