The Super Eagles ran riot against a hapless Sao Tome and Principe side, recording a resounding 10-0 win in their second Group A game of the 2023 AFCON qualifiers at the Adrar Stadium, Agadir in Morocco on Monday, Completesports.com reports.
It is officially Nigeria’s biggest ever win in football and it is the second time the country would score 10 goals in a match after thrashing Dahomey (now Benin Republic) 10-1 on 28 November 1959.
The star of the Agadir showpiece was Victor Osimhen who scored four goals and provided two assists.
Also Read – Live Blogging: Sao Tome & Principe Vs Nigeria – AFCON 2023 Qualifiers
Terem Moffi, Ademola Lookman and Emmanuel Dennis opened their goals accounts for the Eagles.
Moffi bagged a brace while aside scoring a goal, Lookman also helped himself with an assist.
The game saw Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro, make four changes with Ademola Lookman, Zaidu Sanusi, Oghenekaro Etebo and Terem Moffi all starting.
Super Eagles’ Terem Moffi vs Sao Tome and Principe captain, Joazhifel Pontes
Simon wore the captain’s armband following injury to William Troost-Ekong in the game against Sierra Leone in Abuja on Thursday and also scored and recorded an assist.
The win took the Eagles to the top of Group A and will be in action again in the qualifiers when they will host Guinea-Bissau in September in their third fixture.
Sierra Leone will welcome Guinea-Bissau in Group A’s other game which will come up later on Monday.
The Eagles had the first attempt on goal in the third minute as Osimhen raced towards goal but was flagged for offside.
Osimhen would not be denied in the 10th minute, heading in Simon’s cross from the left to put the Eagles 1-0 up.
In the 15th minute São Tomé launched their first attack but Francis Uzoho made a good save.
Osimhen almost added his second goal of the game in the 22nd minute, as he headed from close range off a corner from Moses Simon but the keeper made a good save on the line.
In the 28th minute Simon made it 2-0 after he bundled in Osimhen’s assist which came from a long pass from Ola Aina.
São Tomé went forward and had a chance in the 33rd minute through Luis Leal but his shot missed the target.
The Eagles could have extended their lead on 36 minute after Terem Moffi rounded the keeper but his intended pass to Osimhen was intercepted.
With two minutes left to play in the first half Moffi made it 3-0, running on to a through pass from Osimhen, beat his marker before slotting into the back of the net with a left-foot low shot.
Osimhen added the fourth goal on 48 minutes after heading into an empty net a brilliant cross from Lookman.
Also Read – SUPERB! Super Eagles’ Rating In AFCON 2023 Qualifiying Big Win Against Sao Tome
In the 53rd minute Lookman had a good opportunity to add the fifth goal after interchange of passes with Moffi, but his attempted curler went wide off target.
The Eagles continued to go in search of more goals and were rewarded in the 55th minute with a superb free-kick from Etebo.
Osimhen thought he had bagged his hat-trick on 57 minutes after finishing off a beautiful pass from Sanusi, but his goal was disallowed for offside.
A minute later the Eagles made two changes with Ahmed Musa and Shehu Abdullahi replacing Simon and Aina respectively.
In the 60th minute Moffi grabbed his second of the game and the Eagles’ sixth as he slammed in Sanusi’s low cross.
The Eagles continued to run riot and got their seventh through Lookman, who hammered into the net after Moffi’s initial effort was saved by the keeper.
Osimhen eventually got his hat-trick and the eight for the Eagles on 65 minutes, as he ran to a through pass from Musa in the middle and slotted his effort under the keeper.
In the 71st minute the Eagles made a triple change with Leon Balogun, Umar Sadiq and Emmanuel Dennis going in for Bassey, Moffi and Lookman.
With six minutes left Osimhen registered his fourth goal to put the Eagles 9-0 up from another assist from Musa.
Few minutes later Osimhen almost got his fifth but saw his effort hit the woodwork.
In two minutes of added time the Eagles were awarded a penalty which was converted by Dennis who was fouled.
Moses Simon in action against Sao Tome and Principe
MATCH STATS
SAO TOME & PRINCIPE: 0
NIGERIA: 10 (V. Osimhen 9′,48′, 65′, 84; M. Simon 28′; T. Moffi 43′ 60′; O. Etebo 55′; A. Lookman 64′, E. Dennis 92′)
Yellow Card: O. Aina 58′
SAO TOME & PRINCIPE Starting Lineup:
1. Anastasia Bragança (GR)
16. Aldair Cruz
4. Nilton Correa
20. Ebanilson Viegas
14. Edmilson Viegas (22. Luís Adroir 81′)
2. Ivonaldo Mendes
5. Nazaré Jardel
8. Joazhifel Pontes (Capt.)
10. Luis Leal
15. Luis Selemane (11. Mauro Santos 62′)
18. Aderito Peres de Mata (7. Joel Neves 61′)
Subs Not Used:
3. Hernane Almeida
9. Valter Rocha pop
12. Feher Mendes
13. Gil Carvalho
19. Jokceleny Carvalho
21. Ronaldo Afonso
24. Geoxking Fernandes
Coach: Adriano Eusébio (Sao Tome & Principe)
NIGERIA Starting Lineup:
23. Francis Uzoho (GK)
2. Ola Aina (12. Shehu Abdullahi, 58′)
3.Zaidi Sanusi
5. Semi Ajayi
21. Calvin Bassey
8. Oghenekaro Etebo (6. Leon Balogun, 71′)
15. Moses Simon Capt. (7. Ahmed Musa 58)
18. Alex Iwobi Iwobi
14. Terem Moffi (19. Sadiq Umar 71′)
13. Ademola Lookman (17. Emmanuel Dennis 71′)
9. Victor Osimhen
Subs Not Used:
1. Adeleye Adebayo
4. Frank Onyeka
10. Joe Aribo
11. Samuel Chukwueze
16.Adeyinka Adewale
20. Cyriel Dessers
22. Kenneth Omeruo
Coach: Jose Peseiro (Portugal)
By James Agberebi
Photos credit: Andrew Randa
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COMMENTS
If you don’t play well you won’t start the next match.. I love the message.. aribo , deseer and Sam chuks should up their game, more players like success Issac, awoniyi, iheancho might join this team soon bringing more competition..
Kudos to moffi, lookman,and Dennis for their first goals in the super eagles.
Tosin kehinde is needed in this team if we want to talk about competition……It’s not only striker position that we should have competition the midfield too needs competition……Tosin kehinde is moving to the French league or the bundeliga next season and he has really matured in his game……alhassan Yusuf and Onyedika too could be of help in that midfield.
Those names can form the spine of our U23 team for now. Kehinde, Alhassan and Onyedika should show themselves with the DreamTeam first before they can be sure of a SuperEagles call up. There’s always difference in good coaching. We have a team on ground and I believe this team will win at least one of the next two AFCONS. Let those ones go and prove themselves with the U23 team first.
I don’t quite agree with you, we should not reach that conclusion without testing these players. Let us build an environment where meritocracy is the order of the day.
In this part of the world, we are quick to discard competence on the premise of age. Saka is a young player but consistently plays for the three lions. They did not banish him to the under 23s but gave him a chance to prove himself and he took it.
In Nigeria today, even if a good , competent candidate emerges and want’s to contest for governor or president, you will hear Nigerians make comments like ” Let him start from Councilor first”. Usually, such candidates are the most qualified but we are robbed of their brilliance due to sentimental reasons.
I do not have a problem moving them to the under 23s but why don’t we test them in friendlies to see how they measure up? what do we have to lose? for all you know they might just surprise us and give stiff competition to those playing already. In some cases, they might outclass the present players. Let there be stiff competition in the team. I would like to see Tosin Kehinde , Alhassan Yusuf, Amoo in midfield and see how they perform. Our midfield is not particularly great now. We have Etebo who could not hold down a starting berth at Watford playing at the EPL, Onyeka sits it out at Brentford. Are these the players that we would use to conquer the world? i doubt it.
The attacking positions have quality and there is stiff competition there. Same applies to the left back positions. Areas that require a lot of work are the GK, Midfield and Center Back Positions. If we can get quality there, we would not only have a solid team that will dominate the continent for years to come but we would ruffle a lot of feathers at the WC.
Plus obinna nwobodo
ISAAC SUCCESS, WILFRED NDIDI, KELECHI IHEANACHO, TAIWO AWONIYI AND KEVIN AKPOGUMA are the ONLY INCLUSIONS SUPER EAGLES NEED!… Unfortunately for TONY NWAKAEME AS GOOD AS HE IS I BELIEVE HE IS NOW BEHIND, OSIMHEN, AWONIYI,IHEANACHO, MOFFI AND DESSERS IN THE SE ATTACKING PECKING ORDER.. I STILL BELIEVE WE CAN ADD OLISE GOD WILLING ANY OTHER INCLUSION SHOULD PROVE THEMSELVES EITHER IN CLUB NEST SEASON OR AFTER AFCON. THE AFOREMENTIONED PLAYERS ARE WHO CAN COMPETE FOR PLACES.
Enemies that disguise as fans will come here to tell you that it’s just a lowly rated country so it’s not an achievement beating them blue and black……take note guys.
Yes tosin kehinde is needed, we need new players in the middle, but an area we hardly talk about is the right back position.. aina was yellow carded in both sierra leaon and today’s game and should miss one match.. who will replace him.. shehu doesn’t have the trickery and crosses aina provides, but I trust the coach to find a new right back soon.. Felix agu he will be playing in the budesliga next season should come in..
Good game. Congrats to the boys. Irrespective of the quality of the opposition, this has to be a Nigerian (and possibly African) record of number of goals scored in a senior men’s football game, especially in a competitive qualifier….if not ever, then since the turn of the millenium. Congrats to the entire team once again for this feat.
What caught my attention all through the game was the fact that this match was played in Agadir…..not Tangiers, not Rabat, not in any of the Casablanca stadia, nor in Marrakesh or Fes. Yet see the stadium and the pitch with GRASS, NATURAL GRASS like one that has just hosted a world cup final last week. No wonder we perform better away from home than the Salah Ram market pitches we give our boys to play on whenever we play at home.
I know our leaders dont learn, otherwise I would have said they should learn from Morocco.
And not just Morrocco, Egypt too has a plethora of world class pitches, from the Cairo to Suez to Ismailia to Alexandria. Go down south to South Africa and Johannesburg and Pretoria alone can host the AFCON sharing 6 international standard stadia with world class between them from FNB Stadium to Orlando, Ellis Park, Dobsonville, Loftus and Lucas Moripe Stadiums.
But Nigeria with all its braggadocio, a sports ministry and a football federation can only count on just one stadium built by a state government for what other countries in the class of Nigeria have in abundance.
What a shame.
Not letting that take the shine off this record breaking feat…kudos to the boys for not taking their feet off the gas pedal till the end. More of such never say never performances
Of course its a lower rate country, however this is how you treat minnows in football, you not only beat them blue and black but in different colours to teach them a lesson or two. Kudos to SE and way to go
Good win and it’s high time some respect be given to Dessers who happens to be the highest goal scorer in Europa conference league. There has to be a complain no matter what and this all goes to show Pinnick is still behind all this political act because leading a team by 7 goals I don’t understand the addition of Shehu while Dessers who has showed all commitment is left in the bench yet you play him against stronger teams just to disgrace him.
As you can see @Chima E Samuels, the coach followed what the NFF told him. Musa and Shehu came in at the same time because he benched both players against Sierra Leone and the Northerns among the NFF members were angry and ordered Oga Paseiro to play Musa and his company. That means other players in the team are not relevant.
This have to stop. I hate talking about tribalism but it getting to a point that we have to tell ourselves that Hausa do not own Nigeria.
Nigeria belongs all of us.
The new coach is even worse than Oga Rohr and Eguavoen. He featured all the Hausas in the team.
This is very ridiculous. This is the first time in history that I will be talking like this because I believe in one Nigeria not in ethnicity.
Musa and Shehu have nothing to offer Nigeria still, they got much time to play than other new players in the Super Eagles.
I am not talking this way today because Dessers is a Yoruba player but I am talking about equality and merit.
Musa and Shehu should be dropped. Nwobodo, Tosin kehinde, Akpoguma, Micheal and Ebuehi should come in. we have the players to do the job but NFF won’t allow those in charge of the Super Eagles to do the job. This is why I don’t believe in the current NFF. Amaju Pinnick and his carbals have to go first.
10-0 is a great victory but I preferred to see our future team that can beat the likes of Ghana, Cameroon and Senegal inside out in today’s match than Musa and co with this result.
This coach doesn’t have that vision. This is an opportunity to test Adeleye in the second half and cap tie Dessers also in the second half of the match but Amaju and his gang have taken over the Super Eagles and the coaching crew also was clueless to stand their ground.
It going to be like this until we have a change of leadership and mentality in Nigeria. We needed young people that are honest and believe in transparency and in merit. Today’s match showed that Nigeria as a country have a huge problem that Nigerians have to solve in 2023 if we all want a better Nigeria for all of us. Too bad. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
With people like you, a region or tribe will always be on another’s neck for equity. How can you sit down and write this rubbish against a whole tribe all in the name of analysis?
You have a team filled with southerners and just because the only 3 northerners in the team were used, you are crying fowl! This is really really shameful and it saddens my heart that such mindset is publicly brandished! Shame on you man.
In as much as you have a valid point of Dessers being used and cup-tied, your nepotism and tribalism spoilt The Whole show!
Well said Brodaman @Endurance. You spoke with wisdom
LMFAO!
If you call this an ACHIEVEMENT, then it shows how LOWLY, POOR and CHEAP your LIFE is..
A TEAM that even RIVER’S ANGELS of PORT HARCOURT can TRASH 15-0???
LMFAO!
You call it an ACHIEVEMENT??
SMH….
Money post, I hate to read comments like this, Do you know that Said Tome actually eliminated Mauritius to reach this stage?? Show them some respect, they have actually won some game before, they scored first, away to Guinea -Bissau before finally losing 5-1.
LMFAO!!
Is MAURITIUS a FOOTBALLING NATION?
Except maybe GUINEA BISSAU that is fast becoming a FOOTBALL COUNTRY..
Jesus, if. It isn’t an achievement is now what ?? Pls
LMFAO!!
OGA ACHIEVEMENT against a COUNTRY who’s POPULATION can not even FILL UP the BUILDING where my COMMUNITY normally do their TOWN’S HALL MEETING is no ACHIEVEMENT atall!!!
LMFAO!!
Greetings guys its been awhile, mr Akp i just want to add to ur comments yeah concerning super eagles ruthless victory over Sao tome & principe i just want to say really its been long since super eagles play beautifully as they did today they make me to remember westernoff super eagles i really congratulations them for this victory today cuz it going to confidence to the guys imagine for a long time since this team scored through setpieces the way they moved the ball with in themselves for a very long time very interesting to watch i want to say i advice the coach to make sure to improve this team to compete with the best teams in the world.
God bless you sir…..goals brings confidence to a team no matter who you score it against……Any fans dismissing this record breaking victory is satanic.
This score line is unnecessary. Sometimes show respect to teams. 4 goals is okay abeg
Tell FIFA or caf not to record all scores, may be to remove 6 scores and remain 4 you like.
Ghanaians will not let Nigeria rest. Wonders will never end which day we begin answer una name? On YouTube one was saying even if we win 300 zero no world cup. I can’t remember watching Ghanaian football highlights talkless of paying attention to their football. These inferiority complex will only hurt your generations.
My broda!!!! Their inferiority complex is becoming too much. Anything concerning 9ja makes them sick to their stomach. Na wa! I never see this k8nd hatred before o. Can you imagine what would happen if ghana wins senior world cup? Hmmmm… 9ja no go hear word again o.
Sorry guys for my write up
They spelled SAO TOME. And added 3 goals as JARA.
Yes, it was an inferior team, but this team would give CAR, Cape Verde, and even S/L some issues. We beat them so badly today because WE TOOK OUR CHANCES.
CAR, Cape Verde, S/L and other countries would have been beaten heavily as well if we had taken our chances against each of them. Against Ghana, we missed a plethora of chances. Osimhen had the ball in the net, but it was disallowed. If we were more fortunate, it could have been Ghana on the receiving end of a sweet hammering.
The good news is that it can only get better.
I am glad we won, but scoring ten goals is poor sportsmanship. We should have taken our feet off the pedal after scoring about 6 goals. Why embarass our fellow Africans in front of their home crowd?
Congratulations to the boys and the coaching crew for a convincing win, but 10 goals against an opponent that is not a rival is against the unwritten rules of fair play.
Just my opinion. I come in peace.
Sorry, it wasn’t their home crowd, nevertheless, it was their “home game”….
Will you tell Argentina, Brazil, Germany or England that? If any of this teams see a way of disgracing you with 15 goals to nil they will do it.
Beside what’s the highest number of goals stipulated by FIFA?
Good question. This is the kind of margin we need now for redemption. We’ve suffered so much in the hands of different teams due to poor coaching. Let this be a message that we are coming back stronger
Leave bomboy alone. I remember Germany 8 Saudi Arabia 0 I think it was 2006 world Cup. I like what I just watched. This is football. You play for 90min,not 68 min or relaxing even after 6 goals.
I’d like to commend Peseiro on settling for this new formation 4-4-2..Most elite coaches look at the quality of players they have and choose the style and formation they play based on the attributes of the players…Clearly we have a lot of center forwards (in this case not wingers)Osimhen,Iheanacho,Moffi,Dessers,Awoniyi,Sadiq,Onuachu and Simy Nwankwo..Peter Olayinka and Emmanuel Dennis are strikers but because of the stiff competition they are forced to make do playing as wingers.That said,Peseiro is right to go with two strikers upfront.
I sense the danger of Iheanacho losing his spot in this team because peseiro has stated clearly he wants the players to build a connection and the strike partnership of Osimhen-Moffi did brilliant today.. Against Sierra Leone the partnership of Osimhen-Sadiq didn’t do so well,we got another chance to see them today yet again when moffi was subbed for Sadiq still it wasn’t great..Moffi in particular has excelled partnering with strikers upfront..Moffi-Dessers against Mexico was decent.Going on from here it’s safe to say Moffi has adapted the most in peseiro’s system and has managed to build a connection with his strike partners.Iheanacho on the other hand excels playing in a two man strike force,I don’t think him and Osimhen will fit
Peseiro also has made it clear to the players,Be poor or have a bad game, you’ll not play the next game..So everyone who gets a chance to play must deliver or else sit on the bench
The ineffective chukwueze,Dessers(might be a bit harsh),Balogun,Aribo will know they must improve.
I must commend the big call to trust Semi Ajayi, I’ve always loved him,he rarely makes mistakes (though he made some awkward passes today),He’s physically strong, Aerially he’s dominant.I’d like if Akpoguma would be given another chance to impress
Uzoho looks reborn and if he continues I don’t see Okoye or any other guy taking his spot,next big thing for him is to move to a more competitive league.
Finally,the midfield,our two man midfield of Etebo and Iwobi did well today because of how poor Sao Tome was,I don’t have a problem with a midfield Pivot if someone got to do the covering for the other.Etebo played as the deeper midfielder.Aribo struggled to impress against Sierra Leone.If Ndidi recovers,then we should have more protection..
I can not believe some comments I just read now, some fans saying we should take our foot off the pedal? Truly, human beings can not be satisfied! If they did that now beating stp 0-3, the same set of fans will come out to complain that guinea Bissau beat stp5-1 , that the team was not ruthless enough.This fans are just complex beings honestly.
JP and the boys should just focus on their football and forget the naysayers and confusionist. Let them tell the top teams like Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Germany to put their foot off the pedal first before we listen to them. I like what I am seeing from the team and they shoukd keep it up!
ISAAC SUCCESS, WILFRED NDIDI, KELECHI IHEANACHO, TAIWO AWONIYI AND KEVIN AKPOGUMA are the ONLY INCLUSIONS SUPER EAGLES NEED!… Unfortunately for TONY NWAKAEME AS GOOD AS HE IS I BELIEVE HE IS NOW BEHIND, OSIMHEN, AWONIYI,IHEANACHO, MOFFI AND DESSERS IN THE SE ATTACKING PECKING ORDER.. I STILL BELIEVE WE CAN ADD OLISE GOD WILLING ANY OTHER INCLUSION SHOULD PROVE THEMSELVES EITHER IN CLUB NEST SEASON OR AFTER AFCON. THE AFOREMENTIONED PLAYERS ARE WHO CAN COMPETE FOR PLACES
PRINCE KELECHI IS ANOTHER ONE WHO WILL BE A STAR AND MAY EVEN BE GOOD ENOUGH TO BREAK INTO SUPER EAGLES IF HE BREAKS INTO AS ROMA SENIOR SQUAD NEXT SEASON