By Tonte Davies
Nigeria was close to a shock defeat in their international friendly against Scotland but for a last gasp goal courtesy of super-sub Uche Nwofor. The Super Eagles who are World Cup-bound to Brazil, had some new faces in the fold of the starting line-up including Joseph Yobo who made a return. Nigeria got the game underway retaining the ball in their possession until five minutes of play. The tides changed afterwards with a 10-minute goal from a Charles Mulgrew deft touch that beat goalkeeper Austin Ejide to put the Tartan Army ahead.
At this point, it seemed Scotland would continue to make significant strides under Gordon Strachan with five wins in five games. However, Super Eagles’ Michael Uchebo had other plans in mind. The striker’s deflected long range shot leveled the game at 41 minutes denying Strachan’s a remote chance for further improvements. Until Uchebo’s goal, Nigeria had difficulties keeping the ball within their possession and were unable to complete key passes.
First half ended in a stalemate but action was to continue in the second interval in the hope of tactical changes on resumption. Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi, fielded a fringe side with the likes of Victor Moses, Osaze Odemwingie, Nnamdi Oduamadi as substitutes on the bench. Newcastle’s Shola Ameobi, Enugu Ranger’s Ejike Uzoenyi and Ukraine-based Michael Babatunde led Keshi’s frontline. On resumption of hostilities, Nigeria got much of ball possession but Scotland eased the game winning a free kick.
Azubuike Egwuekwe under pressure from James Morrison awaiting a cross from Alan Hutton, turns the ball in for an own goal on 52 minutes. Coach Keshi makes the much anticipated change with Odemwingie and Nosa Igiebor coming on. Though an experimental team as he looks to whittle down on his provisional World Cup squad, Keshi must address some issues before their Group F encounters. The Super Eagles of Nigeria will face-off against Iran, Bosnia and familiar World Cup foes Argentina.
“Well contested game. Keshi should have a good idea of who is going home after this,” said football journalist Colin Udoh via his twitter account. This he said with the anticipation of the unveiling of the 23-man list of the team by Monday June 2; concerns had been about the make-up of the 30-man provisional list released some weeks ago. It is not just the list that has been of bother to Nigeria’s preparations ahead of the World Cup.
In the build-up to the friendly encounter between Nigeria and Scotland, an allegation of match-fixing surrounding the fixture made headlines on Tuesday. Though both countries are absolved of complicity, Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) –an equivalent of FBI – say “the NCA will from time to time provide operational detail necessary for public reassurance purposes. It does not routinely confirm or deny the existence of specific operations or provide ongoing commentary on operational activity.”
The Super Eagles equalized with a second goal from Uche Nwofor at 89 minutes giving Stephen Keshi’s wards a sense of belief as they look forward to their next friendly fixture against Greece. The game will be played on June 3.
Image source: sns group