Nigeria’s Super Eagles gaffer, Jose Peseiro is quite elated after ending a 15-match international friendlies winless streak as the country’s senior national football team ended the unpalatable reputation when they pummeled the 10- man Mambas of Mozambique team 3-2.
In the post match conference, the Portuguese coach expresses his relief and satisfaction after ending a five year span of not winning a friendly encounter
“I am happy because after 15 matches, we have finally won a game,” Peseiro said after the game.
“We have not won a friendly game in the last five years. We have had eight defeats and seven draws but today, the result was good.”
It was a match that started with the Super Eagles conceding the first goal inside the first 10 minutes after goalkeeper Francis Uzoho let in a cheap attempt from Mambas Geny Catamo in the 7th minute. The goalkeeper who is now well known for his error-prone approach only made an attempt in futility to stop the ball from sliding through his legs.
However the Super Eagles reacted swiftly with two goals from OGC Nice of France striker Terem Moffi and Frank Onyeka of Brentford City of England as the Super Eagles.
In the 39th minute, Mozambique’s Edmilson Dove was given a straight red after a rough foul on Eagles’ midfielder Joe Aribo. Nigeria leveraged on their opponent’s numerical disadvantage after Moses Simon converted a spot kick end the first half 3-1.
Despite playing with a man short, Mozambique scored the only goal of the second half as the encounter ended 3-2 in favour of the Super Eagles. It could be recalled that Nigeria played out a two- all draw against the Green Falcons of Saudi Arabia last week at the same same venue.
The Super Eagles next international fixture will be in November when they confront Zimbabwe in a 2026 World cup qualifier. Thereafter they will set their sights on winning a fourth trophy when the African Cup Of Nations gets underway in January 2024, in Ivory Coast
Ikenna Okafor
