The Super Eagles of Nigeria lost 2-1 to the desert Foxes of Algeria on Tuesday in the much-anticipated international friendly game at the Olympic Stadium in Oran, Algeria.
The Super Eagles took the lead through Terem Moffi’s goal but the hosts equalized in the first half through a Riyad Mahrez penalty.However the Algerians won it in the second half through a long-range strike by Youcef Atal.
As disappointing as the outcome was from a Nigerian perspective, the game did have some notable talking points.
Goalkeeping position remains a problem for the Super Eagles
In recent times, no Super Eagles match have been played without a goalkeeping error? A question for either one of Maduka Okoye and Francis Uzoho.
In the match against Algeria, it was Uzoho’s turn to torment Nigerians, a task which he performed with utmost zest in 90 minutes
The 23-year-old was jittery in goal as usual and had several questionable moments especially in the first half when he nearly gave away a goal.
He did eventually do what he had threatened all night at the hour mark as Uzoho’s comical goalkeeping was the major reason Youcef Atal scored the winning goal from over 30 yards out.
Peseiro started the game with a new Super Eagles central defensive partnership with Calvin Bassey and Kevin Akpoguma and it looked like it worked.
Technically however, they did concede two goals in a poor defeat for Nigeria but both players displayed good chemistry for people who had never been paired before now.
Beyond their performance against Algeria, Akpoguma/Bassey presents Nigeria with hope that there is a chance to be free from Nigeria’s defensive nightmare sooner than later.
The former pair of 34-year-old Leon Balogun and 29-year-old William Troost-Ekong are well past their best years but remain regulars in the team due to a seeming lack of options, which has now been remedied by Bassey and Akpoguma.
About five minutes after Nigeria conceded the winning goal, the game was paused because of a regular occurrence in football.
A pitch invader who we can only assume is Algerian made his way to the pitch and clung very tightly to the Algerian stars on the pitch.
It was one of the more interesting moments in what was a disappointing second half in comparison to the first.
The stewards would eventually separate the fan from the player he was clinging to and the game proceeded as planned.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)
