The Super Eagles of Nigeria defeated the Pirates of Seychelles 3-1 in Asaba yesterday to end their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign on a high note. The Eagles had already sealed their place in the 2019 finals before yesterday’s clash at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, Delta State.
Odion Ighalo opened the scoring in the 35th minute from the penalty spot after Wilfred Ndidi was brought down in the box. It was Ighalo’s 7th goal in the campaign.
However, the jubilation didn’t last long as the visitors levelled just five minutes, as Rody Malenie took advantage of a poor goalkeeping by Francis Ozoho, who made a schoolboy error. Tall Ozoho gifted a Pirate attacker the goal by failing to punch the ball far from the Nigerian defence.
But five minutes after the break, Henry Onyekuru put the Eagles back ahead when he headed in from Jamilu Collin’s cross.Substitute Moses Simon, who came in for injured Ighalo, then sealed the win with a fine shot from the left in added time.The victory means Nigeria won four matches during the qualifiers, drew one and lost one – finishing at the top of the group with 13 points.
Paul Onuachu made his debut appearance for the Eagles as he played as a substitute for Oghenekaro Etebo in the second half.The coach Gernot Rohr’s men will take on the Pharaohs of Egypt in an International friendly in Asaba on Tuesday.Their next competitive game will be at the Nations Cup finals in Egypt. The tournament is billed to take place between June 7 and June 30th, 2019.
Meanwhile, coach Gernot Rohr has admitted that Uzoho complacency contributed to the goal scored by the Pirates. He declared that lack of playing time for Ozoho in his new club affected his performance.“Uzoho has not been regular in his club side. That is why he made mistake that contributed to the goal. I am not castigating him on this because anybody can make mistake. In the next friendly game we will have Daniel Apeyi in goal to see what he can offer. At this moment I am satisfied with the Super Eagles performance.
Coach of Seychelles, Gavin Jeanne stated that he was delighted over his players’ performance against the Super Eagles. “Getting 3-1 result against a quality team like Nigeria is good. We are working hard to have a better outing in the next nation’s qualifier,” he said.
