EAGLES FEAST ON THE CHEETAHS FOR DINNER AT THE NEST OF CHAMPIONS
…Nathaniel Mobolade, jos.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria began their 2025 African Nations Cup qualifiers on a right footing with 3-0 thumping of the Cheetahs of Benin Republic at the Godswil Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The match was a sweet revenge for the Eagles who had earlier lost 2-1 to the Beninoise in the 2028 World Cup qualifiers at the Houphert Boigni Stadium Abidjan under the tutelage of George Finidi.
The Eagles did not hide their desires to carry the day as they pressed for early goal but were denied by the Beninoise defence coached by the former Super Eagles gaffer Gernet Rorh. However, the feasting began in the 47th min when Alex Iwobi sent a long range pass to 2024 Ballon D’or nominee, Ademola Lookman after a miss by the Benin defender, who beat three more defenders before slotting into the far right corner of the net to send the expectant crowd into a rapturous jubilation before the first half came to an end.
At the commencement of the 2nd half, the Augustine Eguaveon tutored side continued the dinner from where they stopped as they put more pressure on the Beninoise defence but had series of misses from Victor Boniface, who was later substituted for the reigning African Footballer of the year, Victor Osimhen, who was making his appearance after sometime away from the team.
It didn’t take too long before he scored the 2nd goal of the match in the 78th mins. It was again the time for the Eagles to get another goal as Lookman got his second goal and the 3rd of the match in the 83rd mins to seal the fate of the Beninoise team of coming back into the match, sending the fans at the Nest of Champions into a frenzy.
The Eagles had 13 shots on goal with only 6 by the Squirrels and having 57% possession of the ball,also had a 84% pass accuracy after a long time playing without a recognisable pattern.
The silver medal winning team of the last AFCON in Cote D’voire, will continue their quest for qualification to the next Nations Cup on Tuesday 10th September in Kigali against the Rwandan National team with the hope of getting a win as against the last time they met in the 2028 World Cup qualifiers which ended 1-1.
Some fans, Mr Ayuba Kura in Abattoir, and Ms Mary Bot, speaking to ssimedia247.com.ng after the match expressed their optimism of the Super Eagles getting a positive results on Tuesday in Kigali as they maintained that this is a new Super Eagles that will put smiles on the faces of the fans.
