Competitive Nigeria Debut Excites Iwobi, Moses Rues Egypt Draw
The Super Eagles were denied the chance of going top on the standings in Group G of the 2017 AFCON Qualifiers after they were forced to a 1-1 draw by the Pharaohs of Egypt at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna on Friday.
Oghenekaro Etebo got the only goal for Nigeria on the hour-mark after a goal mouth scramble that finally broke the resilience of the Egyptians who looked very much contented with a draw.But what was looking like a fair result was overturned when Roma’s Mohammed Salah got the equaliser.
The Eagles started quite brightly with Ahmed Musa launching the first attack from the right flank but his cross was intercepted by the Egyptians.
The Eagles continued to press for an early goal but could not break the resilient Egyptians who gradually settled into the game and began to make their own incursions.
Roma’s Mohamed Salah was the first major threat against the Eagles with his tricky moves getting the better of debutant Stanley Amuzie.
The Egyptians came very close to getting a shock lead when Salah made a wonderful effort before laying the ball off to El-Said who passed to an unmarked Koka. But Koka saw his strike hit the Nigerian keeper Carl Ikeme who forced the ball for a corner.
At the other end, Ighalo gave an instant reply just two minutes later when he was allowed to cut inside and strike towards goal, but El-Shennawi thwarted the Watford man.
Nigeria had a free-kick moments later but Moses Simon rocketed the ball into the high heavens. Etebo also took a free-kick but did not make the most of the chance.
The Egyptians were able to curtail Nigeria well in the first half but in the dying stages, Kelechi Iheanacho and Ighalo had good chances but could not bury the ball in the net.
In the second half, the Eagles started brightly also but had to wait till the 60th minute before they finally tucked the ball in through Etebo.
The trio of Victor Moses, Umar Aminu and Alex Iwobi all came in the second half and tried to make their presence count.
Moses came the closest to doubling Eagles’ lead but was denied by a goal line clearance.
The hearts of the thousands of fans present at the Kaduna stadium got broken when Salah in the first minute of extra time beat the offside trap to tuck in the equaliser that now puts them in pole position for qualification.
The second leg comes up in four days’ time in Alexandria.
Iwobi happy with competitive debut for Nigeria:
Alex Iwobi is delighted to have played his first competitive game for Nigeria, just as Victor Moses was left sad by Friday’s draw with Egypt, reports Completesportsnigeria.com.
The 19-year-old Iwobi came in for Moses Simon in the closing stages of Nigeria’s 1-1 home draw against Egypt at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna on Friday.
Even though the result puts the Super Eagles in danger of missing out on the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations to be staged in Gabon, the Arsenal winger was really elated to take part in the game.
“Unlucky not to win but happy to have made my competitive debut for Nigeria,” he wrote on his Twitter handle.
“Would like to also thank England for giving me the chance to represent them.”
Meanwhile, Moses tweeted his frustration after the match. The West Ham forward who had a shot cleared off the line wrote: “Shame we couldn’t get the win today but the boys battled hard and we move on to Tuesday now.”
Nigeria will take on Egypt in the reverse fixture next week Tuesday in Alexandria.
The Super Eagles need to win the game to boost their chances of making it to Gabon 2017.
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