Home-based Super Eagles of Nigeria Monday afternoon at the Tuks Stadium in Pretoria, secured a 1-0 victory over their West African rivals, Cote D’Ivoire, in a test match in preparation for the African Nations Championships, CHAN.
A solitary strike from Ifeanyi Matthew on the dot of half time was all the Eagles B team needed to claim the bragging right in Monday’s keenly contested test match.
The first half was largely an even affair although Nigeria had more clear chances compared to their opponents.
Barthlomew Ibenegbu struck the post for Nigeria while Ezekiel Bassey wasted a one-on-one chance that could easily have given Nigeria the lead.
Also, Tunde Adeniji was guilty of a rather slow start in the encounter in which goalkeeper, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, twice bailed out Nigeria with point blank saves while a goal line clearance from Stephen Eze and later Chima Akas ensured Nigeria hung on before taking the lead through Ifeanyi Matthew.
Though both teams stepped up the pace in the second half, there were no goals to show for their effort as Coach Sunday Oliseh’s side held on to their slim lead.
Before today’s win, the CHAN Eagles had played out a 1-1 draw with Angola, while they whipped PSL side AmaTuks in their first outing in their training camp.
The Eagles will depart South Africa for Rwanda on Friday, January 15.
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