The Super Eagles edged Sierra Leone 3-2 in Group A to qualify for next year’s AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire.
A brace from Victor Osimhen and a late strike by substitute Kelechi Iheanacho secured the hard fought win in the match day five Group A tie in Monrovia, Liberia on Sunday.
The Eagles go top in Group A on 12 points while Guinea-Bissau in second place have also qualified.
Their final game in the qualifiers is against São Tomé and Principe in September.
Also Read: CAF Hails Super Eagles After Victory Over Sierra Leone
Osimhen opened scoring on 19 minutes before doubling the Eagles’ lead on 32 minutes.
Mustapha Bundu made it 2-1 in the 41st minute while Augustus Kargbo drew the Leone Stars level on 84 minutes.
But in the 95th minute Iheanacho made sure of the win as he got the Eagles’ third.
27 Comments
Osimhen is world class…. Chukwueze needs to cool down and play his game….Ndidi and Aribo are playing football as if they are school boys learning how to kick football…..Zaidu should go forward more because he has the pace to cover ground…..Omeruo lacks ball play as a central defender…..Ajayi is decent…..Osayi Samuel is world class and fenabache will lose him soon to a bigger club because he is too big for turkey…..Adeleye is too Short for an elite goalkeeper but he has nice reflex…… Simeon does too much when he can make it simple…… Awoniyi has a very great presence in the opponents box 18…… Iheanacho is a fox who sniffs where the goal is…..Iwobi is a nice Midfield coordinator is that creative role but his defending needs to improve……Onyeka is a nice Midfielder we need to see more of him…… Akpoguma is a central defender not a right back…..nice game
……hmmm, mexican campos would have a thing or two to say about that. Enyeama himself is not tall and is arguably the best goal tender we ever had. I will like to see more of Adeleye, they should give him more opportunities, there is a player there.
Aribo provided the assist for Osimhen’s second goal though, which CAF didn’t allow us to see on live TV lol
@ AKP you said it all. Well said. All you said is my mind. Hand shake .
Akpoguma shud just be on d bench abeg until otherwise proven. Ndidi’s lack of pace is annoying… Omeruo shud carry Musa along with him to retirement
I always knew that the presence of AHMED MUSA in the TEAM will INSPIRE and MOTIVATE these YOUNG LADS to VICTORY!!
CONGRATS NIGERIA….
He must have done alot of TALKING to them in the DRESSING ROOM especially to KELZ which provided the WINNING GOAL…
SE does not need a motivational speaker sitting on the bench now…..what they need is competition in the team…..they need players who can bring competition into the team…..players that can challenge the first eleven to their position…..players that are young and playing at the very top of their potential…..Nigerians do sit up whenever their position is under threat or wherever there is competition……We Nigerians tend to relax whenever nothing is astake…..The team needs competition now……Give Other players the chance to play and show us what they can do even if it’s friendly games……Ndidi and Aribo are just relaxed because they don’t see any real Midfielder been given the chance to play in their stead…..When you make two of them sit down and watch Rapheal Onyedika,Alhassan yusuf, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro, Perform in SE shirt believe me they will be smoking hot the next time you give them a chance…… That is the mindset of a average Nigerian.
Yes he was also talking to Kelechi when Leicester played City and Kelz nearly tied the game on his own for Leicester..
@Mockery Post your mumu too much joor
Osimhen is a great asset to us. The way he dispossesses strikers of the ball to create chances all by himself is 2nd to none, he can create a goal out of nothing, such players would make you win not only matches but Tournaments, he is by far, Africa’s best player this season, he is currently leading this Afcon qualifiers with 7 goals, I expect him to score hatrick against Sao Tome on Wednesday, (He scored 4 times against them in the 1st Leg) Let me now see what would prevent him from winning this year’s Afrca’s best.
They will still go and give it to underperforming Treble winner, Mahrez…..see you…you’re talking as if it’s just today you’re just knowing this CAF lol
If they try it lasan , CAF should be prepared for serious online dragging .
And you think they’d care? Hmmmm
@Emecco, abegi which São Tomé game on “Wednesday”?!
Congratulations to the team!
But no one should be fooled. This team has a long way to go.
As unconvincing as Mr. Peseiro has been, he has beaten Sierra Leone over two legs, something one of our previous coaches couldn’t manage in two tries.
And if the NFF retains him, he and Nigeria will be at The Nations Cup in The Ivory Coast next year. You can’t say that about Benin Republic.
Let me leave the last paragraph and focus on the “long way to go”.
Between now and January, there will be only 3 friendly matches apart from the last competitive match in September.
Are you implying that afcon 2023 will elude us too?
Our players are still in their “prime”. Omereo that one called “finished” here is just 29. Chukweze is as old as Osimhen. E shock you? We are stuck with most of these guys who are owed 21 match bonuses too.
Why are you rubbing it in now? You know ROHR die hard senseless fans do not see reason even with big stadium flood lights. But Peisero is still lacking. this win was achieved with individual efforts not good coaching.
At least under our past coaches that couldn’t beat Sierra Leone, super eagles faced Brazil, Argentina, England, Croatia, Serbia, Poland, Ukraine, cameroun, Senegal, alegeria, Egypt, Tunisia et all elite footballing nations both in America, Europe and Africa and never, i repeat NEVER got beaten by 3 unreplied goals, remember, he spent over 4 years yet none of these teams ever scored 3 goals against his team.
Our new messiah South gate, joechim low, hynnces, zidane, quadiola, bassque, anceloti etc…. collected not just 3 but 4 goals.
Mind you, not even 4-something(let’s say 4-1, 4-2, 4-3 or 4-4)…. 4 GOOD GOALS TO a VERY BIG ZERO(4-O)…. 4-GBONDO…. from a Portugal team that needed a sheer luck to beat the worst Ghana team in over 2 decades….a Portugal team that can’t register a single goal against Morocco…. that’s the team that gave us the worst and most embarrassing defeat in over 25 years.
Untill this our treble winning coach pisero out-performs our past coaches, we’ll continue to miss them.
Qualifying with game in hand isn’t new to us, our past coaches even qualified us with 2 good matches to play.
So oga @Tony rest.
SHALOM
Osimene is just beastly. Good game from Aribo. Anyone judging players with club performance is still a newbie in football. Let them play international football first before condemning or singing their CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ENTIRE TEAM . IT WAS NEVER GONNA BE EASY ON THAT PLAYING SURFACE. NOW PESEIRO/POLITICIANS IN OFFICE, PLEASE HELP THIS TEAM TO BECOME STRONGER BY TRYING AS MANY NEW PLAYERS AS POSSIBLE IN REMAINING MATCHES.GOD BLESS ALL DESERVING SE PLAYERS AND GOD INTERVENE IN NIGERIA’S SITUATION. AMEN
DON’T LET US BE DECEIVING OURSELVES, THIS SUPER EAGLE TEAM HAS NOTHING OFFER IN FUTURE MAIN COMPETITION UNLESS PROPER ADJUSTMENT IS MADE, STARTING FROM COACHING CREW TO THE MAIN TEAM.
*** IT IS ONLY VICTOR OSIMHEN THAT ALWAYS PLAY WITH PASSION & FULL COMMITMENT IN THE TEAM.
IT IS BETTER TO RESHUFFLE/DISBAND THE COACHING CREW WITH SOME PLAYERS NOW OR ELSE, RECORD ANOTHER WORST PERFORMANCE IN HISTORY OF NIGERIA FOOTBALL LIKE THAT OF LAST AFCON.
I hope super eagles player do go back and watch what they did in a match, cus its seems they do not watch their game after, the same mistake always can’t not hold a win or try to put more goals. I wish other play can put more effort like their osimhen. Weldon
NFF WILL FRUSTRATE US AND IMPOSE NPFL THIS NPFL THAT AHMED MUSA THIS AHMED MUSA THAT. LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF INTERNATIONAL STARS…. LET NIGERIAN FOOTBALLERS NOT ASPIRE TO BE LIKE VICTOR OSIMHEN BUT RATHER ASPIRE TO BE LIKE RABIU ALI..
AT THE END OF THE DAY IT WILL BE THE EUROPEAN STARS THAT WILL PERFORM AND BAIL US OUT OF STICKY SITUATIONS. IS NFF NOT INSANE MY PEOPLE
And it’s the SAME “European stars” that will lose to Madagascar, Cape Verde and CAR at home…lol!
All Nigerians are Nigerians, and being based at home should never be a disability for deserving players – unless we have made inferiority complex our national culture.
My man the best way to catch up to Europe is to accept that we are behind them in infrastructure and technical coaching when it comes to ball squash that Nigerian arrogance bros.
How do you compete. Always select the best the country has available period. Okay what is the point. Of using SE as marketing for NPFL. All those players that NFF impose on SE from NPFL in the past where are they now. In some obscure league in Europe after they move they are forgotten irrespective of if they are more talented than the current set so where is the continuity bro?. What is the aim. Must we now have a new NPFL player in SE every international window because he is in NPFL. The way to catch up is only select the best Nigeria has Available and that is European based players. Then use the opportunity to get your NPFL league In order. NFF is they really want to succeed should accept this and make CHAN team the stepping block for SE for local players once they are proven in Chan they can make SE because all footballers in Nigeria I don’t care what you day thier dream is to move to Europe and once that happens they automatically become not Nigerian enough for SE irrespective of thier talent
When they break in they will mix with the likes of Osimhen and get that foorvall knowledge playing with Osimhen should be a privilege not a right for NPFL because Osimhen worked damn hard to get where he is today.
What good is it imposing NPFL players to come and struggle at international level to the point we mis out on major tournaments then even those players won’t get the spot light. So where is the l9gic in this NFF stupid tactics?
And Again @9jarealist the better players i.e. Gift orban, ebuehi and Boniface who are missing out on the team on merit because they are European based for club. ARE THEY NOT NIGERIAN??????
SO IN A FUNCTIONING SOCIETY WHERE THINGS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DONE ON MERIT, IF EVERYONE IS NIGERIAN AND WE WANT TO SUCCEED SHOULDN’T WE BE SELECTING THE BEST NIGERIAN TO PROSECUTE THE JOB?. I mean they are all Nigerian are they not
Or Are you people telling me that we should be making rules for what reason to aim for our players to be based in Nigeria Or to reach the heights of Victor Osimhen. What are we actually aiming tell me @OGA 9ja realist
IT LOOKS LIKE THEY CAN SCORE EVERYTIME THEY COME FORWARD.
Those were the commentator’s words. This team has a decent attack. The problem is the low conversion rate of chances created. Yes, SL scored 2 goals today. But with better finishing, the game could have ended 5-2 or 6-2 in Nigeria’s favor.
Chukwueze had the ball in the net in the first half, but it was chalked off. He combined well with Osimhen. Those two have a good understanding with each other. If not for poor decision making and profligacy in front of goal, Chukwueze could have grabbed some goals and assists today.
Simon did well, with his mazy runs on the left flank. Produced better crosses too, and combined well with Sanusi. Iwobi as usual pulled the strings in the middle. Aribo and Ndidi are a bit off the pace fitness wise, but they made a few positive contributions.
The back four was ok without being spectacular.
The goalie Adeleye showed impressive ball handling skills, and seemed composed. Made several saves to deny SL goal scoring opportunities.
The boys made it harder than it should have been, but they got the job done in the end.
Now the spotlight goes back on the NFF. When are the coaches going to be paid their outstanding salaries? Players bonuses nko? You want them to win the next world cup? Oya, how about paying them what you owe to start with?
Let’s get it right in the office, so we can get it right on the pitch.
Croatia with their authentic old men have been playing inspiring football since 2018. Incidentally, Nigeria football woes began to be more prominent with so called youthful squad. Golden generation just lost only their 2nd shootout in 9 attempts after several 120 minutes football. Mostly the same close knit players since 2018.
Nigeria largely has majority of 2018 team but is increasingly rudderless and uninspiring. Uzoho came to light in 2018 but we are not sure today eagles have safe hands.
Is it hard to do something right here?
I heard a stat that Kelechi Iheanacho has now scored 13 goals for the SuperEagles. How true is that? And he’s still only 26. I have no idea how he’s able to rack up that amount of goals without really playing a lot of games.
If I’m Peseiro I will play Awoniyi Osimhen and Iheanacho as our attacking trio in Ivory Coast. I’m already thinking ahead of the AFCON. Then choke the midfield with bodies because we currently lack that player that can hold the ball with sense in that department. Iwobi and Kelechi will have a free role drafting out wide at times to free up spaces for Awoniyi and Osimhen. Shield the back four with 2 DMs, while Chukwueze Simon and Lookman can be options from the bench.
I don’t think we have much time to experiment. Most our regulars are still in their prime and this current SuperEagles is an experienced side. Peseiro will most likely role with this set of players for the AFCON in January. I just wish them a nice summer and stay healthy for the new season and be in match fitness for the AFCON. Anything can happen as far as my SuperEagles is concerned… No time to waste time.