Chidozie Awaziem of Super Eagles, Nigeria
Nigeria, yesterday, brightened her chances of qualifying for next year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), after subduing Seychelles 3-0, at the Stade Linite in Victoria.
Goals from Ahmed Musa, Chidozie Awaziem, and Odion Ighalo ensured that the Eagles defeated The Pirates in front of their home crowd, thereby plummeting Seychelles’ hopes of featuring in the continental showpiece.
The Eagles made their mission known right from the blast of the whistle by dominating play.
This yielded the first goal of the match in the 15th minutes, as Musa’s left-foot volley got deflected in off Seychelles goalkeeper, Dave Mussard.
Nigeria increased the tally through Awaziem, a defender, in the 34th minute after Kelechi Iheanacho’s free kick rebounded off the upright leaving the Seychelles’ goalkeeper helpless.
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Ighalo then put the icing on the cake when he scored the third goal from the spot after the centre referee concluded that Samuel Kalu, was fouled by a Seychelles defender in their 18-yard box.
Seychelles, however, had a big opportunity to reduce the tally, but Perry Monnaie wasted the chance in the 63rd minute by blasting wide.
Speaking after the match, the former International and a member of the Nigeria Football Federation Technical Committee, Garba Lawal, said the result was fantastic, but faulted the central defence, which he thinks needs to be worked on before the game against Libya.
“No doubt, the result was a fantastic one, but we all expected them to beat Seychelles after all.
Our next match is against Libya and we must get it right by beating them after losing to South Africa.
If we beat Libya home and away, that will be fantastic then we can talk of qualifying for the AFCON,” he stated.
Nigeria meets Libya at home in the next AFCON qualifier in a month’s time, while South Africa battles Seychelles in a home fixture.
Source: G Sport
