BEVERLY HILLS, June 04, (THEWILL) – The Super Eagles of Nigeria failed to keep their unbeaten record against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon going as they fell to a lone goal loss in the first of their doubleheader friendlies at the Stadion Wiener Neustadt in Vienna, Austria.
The Nigerian squad, boasting the firepower of Racing Genk’s Paul Onuachu, Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho, Nantes’ Moses Simon, Lorient’s Terem Moffi and Slavia Prague’s Peter Olayinka could not find an equaliser to a first-half strike from the Fulham midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa.
That 37th minute goal settled the international friendly as a contest even though Gernot Rohr’s charges were up for the match from kickoff. As early as the third minute, Paul Onuachu could have opened the scoring but as was the case throughout the game, the chance came and went begging.
Credit must go to the Cameroonian goalkeeper, Simon Omossola, whose reflexes and overall display, won the match for the Indomitable Lions. From the moment he kept out Onuachu’s header in that third minute chance to the very end of the match, he stood resolute between the sticks to preserve his clean sheet.
The Super Eagles’ determined drive for a leveller continued through the second period and attack-minded changes by Rohr, like the introduction of Ahmed Musa and Olayinka to give pace to the frontline still yielded no goal. Omossola was at hand to keep the strikers at bay and even Musa found no way around him.
In the end, the Lions prevailed and finally got a win over the Super Eagles after as many as three previous attempts failed. But, the onus falls on the Super Eagles to take the lessons from this loss, as is the goal of a friendly game, and apply ahead of preparations for their second meeting on Tuesday, June 8, at the same stadium in Vienna.
Nigerians will be expecting a better showing and a victory to make this loss bearable.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
