Rise of a Football God-Chapter 368 : AFCON 2025 [3]

Tanzania may have lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but don't let it deceive you. Against the all-conquering Nigerian team, their coach had no intention of playing open football.

Rather, his philosophy against the Nigerians was defend till death.

In actuality, on the field of play, his formation looked more like a 5-4-1 formation as they defended against the offensive firepower of the Nigerians.

FWEEEE!

From the first minute of the game, Nigeria showed that they were not here to play as they took the game to their opponents.

With Sam once again in the middle of the pitch as the orchestrator, the creator, and with a dangerous striker like Victor Osimhen ahead of him, he was free, liberated; he felt like a fish in water.

Bam! Bam!

Sam played his heart out, enjoying himself on the pitch.

His position was attacking midfield but he did everything. From attacking, shooting, dribbling to defending, tackling, even going on sliding tackles and then to playmaking, setting his teammates up.

Sam was all-action in Nigeria's first show in the 2025 AFCON.

He was not the only one though, he had a lot of supporting cast today.

On the right, electric dribbling was not Alex Iwobi's forte which meant that just like Sam, he was the additional technical playmaker for Nigeria, continuing from where Sam stopped to create for his team.

And he was doing a good job at it.

While on the left, Ademola Lookman was as electric as ever from the onset, bravely charging at the Tanzania defense again and again, turning them inside out with his electric dribbling and pace.

Upfront, Victor Osimhen was a menace, probing with his incredible pressing, physicality, and ruthless eye for goal.

The few times that Tanzania won the ball back and tried to counterattack, the fullback duo of Osayi-Samuel and Ola Aina shut out any dangers before they could fully materialize, Calvin Bassey perfectly sweeping up after them any time they stumbled with mechanical precision.

Like this, Nigeria played a perfect game and yet the goal failed to materialize.

Throughout the first half, Nigeria dominated on every perceivable statistic, pressing Tanzania to death and yet, the Tanzanian defense held strong for 45 minutes.

The first half game to an end in a goalless draw.

During half-time, Eric Chelle smiled at his players. "Good job," he grinned. "They're barely holding on; they won't be able to sustain it".

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"Just keep doing what you're doing and the goals will come".

FWEEE!

When 2nd half started, remaining patient, Nigeria did it, playing their game and pressuring Tanzania but the more the minutes passed without a goal, the more the Nigerian fans in white and red on the stands became reckless.

They clamored for a goal.

50 minutes, no goal…

60 minutes, no goal…

70 minutes, no goal…

75 minutes, no goal…

And then in the 78th minute, Sam burst to life.

By then, he already entered the flow state, running with a single-minded focus of putting the ball inside the net.

Bam!

He received a pass from Wilfried Ndidi and after beating his man with a silky smooth la croqueta, he fed the ball to Alex Iwobi with the outside of his right boot who hit it one-time to Victor Osimhen in the box.

Sam ran after the ball, into the box.

Osimhen took one touch of the ball and feeling defenders around him, he looked, found Sam's run and simply left the ball on his front for him to shoot.

Thud! Thud!

"…!"

Seeing him run closer, the Tanzanian defense panicked but it was already too late, Sam already arrived at the right place at the right time.

Whoosh!

A Tanzanian player slid in but not even hesitating, with narrow-minded focus, Sam swung his right leg back and then…

WHOP!

Like a missile, the ball rose up, honing towards the net.

The Tanzanian goalkeeper was rooted to one spot, only seeing afterimages that were left by the ball. Before he knew it, the ball already nestled in his net and the young Nigerian already charged off to celebrate.

Sam slid on his knees in celebration as a familiar chant made its way to Morocco.

"Sam!" "Sam!" "Sam!"

The passionate Nigerian fans sang at the top of their lungs.

"Well, well, well, who else but Samuel Moses?!"

"Once again, he's come up clutch for his country, scoring when they needed it the most!"

"The maverick, the boy wonder is here in Morocco!"

A lot of Nigerian fans heaved a sigh of relief after that goal.

To the Tanzanian national team though, all hell broke loose after that goal. To hell with it! They had nothing else to lose, or so they thought.

After that goal, their coach gave the order as they finally left their turtle shell to attack aggressively and get the equalizing goal after defending all game.

That… was a foolish decision against Eric Chelle's Nigeria.

The floodgates opened.

Sam scored in the 78th minute, in the 81st, he raised the ball over the defense for Victor Osimhen to run into, volleying a shot into the net with a perfect shooting technique as the Tanzanian defense was now more open to exploit.

75 minutes, 0-0…

81 minutes, 2-0…

In the 85th minute, Alex Iwobi set up Sam, playing a diagonal pass into the box for Sam that Sam made the most off in a moment of individual brilliance.

The ball was hit fast and with power but Sam was still able to tame it perfectly with his wand of a right foot.

Stopping the ball with one touch, with his second touch, he rainbow-flicked the defender pressing him and with his third, he volleyed it into the net.

A thunderbolt!

BAM!

"Ladies and gentlemen, Zinedine Sam is here in Morocco!"

"Be scared, be afraid, show respect!"

"The Nigerian King is here!"

From 0-0, Tanzania were now being killed 3-0.

But still not done, in the 89th minute, Ademola Lookman went on a crazy solo run, cutting through Tanzanian players like they were not there before cutting in and beating the Tanzanian goalkeeper at his near post, scoring Nigeria's 4th goal.

The game eventually game to an end 4-0 in Nigeria's favor.

With a brace and 1 assist, Sam made his AFCON debut in grand style, winning the man of the match award in his very first game.