defeated Ghana U23 1-0 in
an international friendly
played to commission the
Akwa Ibom International
Stadium, Uyo on Friday
night.
A first half header from Emem Eduok was all the
Super Eagles, handled by Daniel Amokachi, needed
to get past the Black meteors who had boasted of
their intention to spoil the party.
The Eagles began the game on a bright note as
they got a corner after goalkeeper Richard Ofori
deflected Osaguona Ighodaro's effort. The resultant
kick, taken by Gbolahan Salami, was blown away.
For the first ten minutes of the game, Nigeria
dominated but despite their string of passes, they
could not break down the defence line of the
dogged Meteors.
Nigeria's first real chance came in the 13th minute
when Eduok broke free from the right but
goalkeeper Ofori was well positioned to foil the
imminent danger.
Daniel Amokachi's men continued to dominate with
Solomon Kwambe shooting from long range with his
effort cleared for a corner kick.
Eduok put Nigeria in the lead with his 35th minute
header after rising to connect to a well-tailored
cross from Kwambe who had overlapped from the
Eagles' defence.
In the 40th minute, Ghana got a chance to equalize
as goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim misjudged a cross by
Agyare Benjamin while Afful could not convert from
close range as he fired over the bar.
On resumption of the second half, Ghana tried to
grab an equaliser but poor finishing was their major
undoing. Osai raced into Nigeria's backline then
shot tamely at goal with Afful seeing his acrobatic
attempt few minutes later going off target.
Even with the introduction of Kojo Poku for Noah
Martey, coach Malik Jabir's side lacked the edge to
punish the errors committed by the Nigerian
backline – especially from Agbim.
Eduok missed many clear cut chances to double his
side's lead as he was a marked man. Salami,
substitute Mfon Udoh and Rabiu Ali in turn missed
glaring opportunities.
Udoh's best chance of the night came in the 71st
minute but his strike rattled the top left corner of
the cross bar. Eduok made an amazing run into the
Ghana defence before setting up Udoh who
chipped the ball over Ofori then saw his effort hit
the wood work even though he was ruled offside by
the referee.
Towards the end of the game, Enoch Ofori Kumi
replaced Latif Amadu while David Opoku replaced
Afful but scores stood at 1-0 in favour of Nigeria till
the final whistle went.
The Nigerians were then handed the Transformation
Cup by President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor
Godswill Akpabio.
Also in attendance were the presidents of Ghana
and Ivory Coast, John Dramani Mahama and
Allasane Ouattara.
The ultra-modern Akwa Ibom Stadium will host the
2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match
between Nigeria and South Africa on November 19.
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