Julius OkorieNew Coach, Finidi George, began his competitive campaign on a shaky note, as the Super Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw by rampant South Africa Friday night in Uyo.
The South Africans, yet to forgive the Eagles for their nail-biting defeat in the semifinals of the last Nations Cup in Cote d’ Ivoire, hit Uyo, with a mindset of either avenging the defeat or sharing the points at stake in the World Cup qualifying tie.
Gingered by their ever-busy veteran, Percy Tau, Bafana Bafana (The Boys), took the war to the Eagles from the first blast of the whistle contesting every ball and seeking the slightest opportunity they could find.
The much-needed opportunity came in the 29th minute, when midfielder ,Themba Zwane, had an impressive run displacing a number of Eagles before firing a shot that beat Stanley Nwabali.
The visitors, though leading by a lone goal, refused to reduce the tempo and continued to mount pressure as the Eagles searched for a solution to a shocker in front of hungry home crowds who had come to watch the Eagles play at the Nest of Champions after a long time.
It was however ,Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, who came to the Eagles’ rescue with an equaliser in the 46th minute.
Every effort made by the Eagles to prevent a draw failed as the South African resolved to fight to the finish, sometimes dishing out hard tackles in the process forcing the centre referee,Alhadi Mahamat, to hand them three yellow cards, though Eagles, Osayi-Samuel, also saw yellow in the 15th minute of the match.
The result has further put the Eagles in a tight corner pushing the team further down in the 5th place in Group C, currently led by Lesotho with five points. Rwanda, Benin Republic and South Africa occupy the 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions respectively in that order.
Finidi George will be hoping to earn his first three points, when the Eagles face Squirrels of Benin Republic, on June 10th in Abidjan just as South Africa hope to have the better of Zimbabwe on June 11th. Nigeria, it will be recalled, failed to qualify for the last World Cup in Qatar and many say it is in the interest of the team and the country to avoid missing the World Cup back-to-back.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
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