Mikel Absent destabilised us -Swaziland Coach

Swaziland coach Bulunga has admitted that playing Sunshine Stars midfielder Paul Onobi instead of Mikel, gave Nigeria a edge.

          

“We saw weaknesses in the Nigeria team in the first leg unfortunately, the coach made changes and there was nothing we could do about it,” said Bulunga.

“(Oliseh) was smart enough to make some chances (and this affected what) we hoped to capitalise.

“For example, the midfield was very slow in the first leg so we wanted to capitalise on that but he changed (his tactics) and put in (Paul Onobi instead of Mikel Obi in that position) and it affected our whole set up.

“(Onobi) was aggressive, he was quick…also the left and right backs were new players that we didn’t expect to play.”

Nigeria won the match by 2:0 after they played goalless draw in Swaziland, Sunday Oliseh and his boys celebrated their first win under the new gaffer after drawing their first two qualifying matches.

Super Eagles have now qualified into the next round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup which is stated to take place in Russia.