One of the finest strike of 21st century
from Iheanacho , it had been said, but, yesterday night, in far-away France, it
needed to be said again and Manchester City young starlet Kelechi Iheanacho
made all the difference for Nigeria in an international friendly against Mali.The
starlet’s 77th minute smasher, moments after he came on for Arsenal’s Alex
Iwobi, was all Super Eagles needed to avoid another score-less evening against
Mali. Fellow substitute Michael Babatunde released Iheanacho for the youngster
to deliver a cool finish, after a flurry of changes added some verve to a drab
evening.
The Former assistant coach brought on Babatunde,
Umar Aminu and Brown Ideye in place of Moses Simon, Oghenekaro Etebo and
Ighalo, before he added Ikeanacho in the mix. Both West African teams cancelled
themselves out by the halfway mark in Rouen, France. Nigeria lined up a very
young starting XI that include Arsenal youngster Alex Iwobi and debutant Musa
Mohammed. The game started at a slow pace under a nice weather before a scanty
crowd.There was not much to choose between the two teams in a half that offered
very little. Debut boy Musa came close to opening scores for Nigeria with
Watford striker Odion Ighalo also threatening the Mali goal. The Eagles of Mali
also came close to getting on the scoreboard towards the end of the first
period. Nigeria will play a second friendly on Tuesday against Luxembourg in
Luxembourg City. Please like, share and follow!