http://naijasoccerstar.com/nigeria-3-1-sudan-match-report/

I was at the National Stadium Abuja to watch the Super eagles play Sudan. It was my first time watching the super eagles live and it was a satisfying experience. Going into the stadium, I could not help but wonder why the security was fairly lax, only persons carrying bags were frisked while entering the stadium, every other person just walked in without any security checks whatsoever. I had to muster a short prayer “oh lord dont let boko boys strike here”, after all crowded places are always their targets.

Upon entering the stadium, it was a pleasure to see the large turn out for the match. The decision of the NFF to make the gate fee free of charge for the match worked a treat and the 60,000 capacity stadium was about two thirds filled up. The stadium looked in good condition, however the seats were dirty and the score display boards were not working.

The nigerian line up was as follows:

Nigeria XI: Vincent Enyeama (c), Ogenyi Onazi, Juwon Oshaniwa, Godfrey Oboabona, Kenneth Omeruo, John Obi Mikel, Raheem Lawal, Hope Akpan, Ahmed Musa, Aaron Samuel, Emmanuel Emenike

Many fans were optimistic the super eagles would come out victorious and were largely in good spirits.

The match started slowly with the weight of expectation very heavy on the shoulders of the super eagles, it was a must-win encounter for the them to stand any chance of qualification for the AFCON morocco 2015.

After about 15 minutes of play, heavy rainfalls started and this did not help the flow of the game.The quality of football in the first half was poor and they were hardly any clear cut chances. When the whistle was blown for half time, the fans were not happy and sections of the fans booed the super eagles as they prayed before going into the dressing room.

If you ever wondered what happens in the stadium when the players go into the dressing room at half time, well for this match we had a professional football juggler entertain us while home viewers were watching football analysts discuss the match.

The super eagles started the second half with more zeal than they ended the first half and were soon rewarded with a goal after a wonderful play from mikel Obi set up Ahmed musa for the first goal. The fans were excited, finally they got to see what they came for and the atmosphere in the stadium changed.

Afterwards they roared “eeeeeeeee” for the super eagles and “boooooo” for the sudanese side, suddenly the trumpets of the supporters club could be heard ” pararararara pararararara …. ” but it was not to last, shoddy defending for the super eagles through the right hand side of defence gave the sudan team a clear cut chance and Salah Al Jizoli put the ball at the back of the net.

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The atmosphere was back to normal again, the cheering stopped as fans imagined if the poor fortunes of the super eagles would continue. The sudan team focused all their attacks through their left flank, it seemed they were trying to exploit onazi who was played in an unfamiliar right back position.

Keshi’s men then restored their lead in the 66th minute, as Samuel pounced on a defensive mix-up to score a goal man scramble and the stadium sprang back to life. We could hear the trumpets once again, however the eagles defence remained porous and they struggled to contain the sudanese.

The Super Eagles were generally the better side in the second half and eventually sealed the win in the 89th minute, when Ahmed Musa scored a solo effort beating past two men in the process.

At full time the fans were elated, i could hear fans calculating, if south africa wins congo and we win our remaining games bla bla bla we would qualify for the Nations Cup.

Viewers at home did not get to see this but fans ran into the field at full time to mob the super eagles. The Civil defence and police had a tough time controlling the crowd and had to use their dogs to keep fans out of the field. However when the super eagles went into the dressing room, more fans summoned courage and surged into the field of play overwhelming the police dogs and the security officers on duty.

In Conclusion:

Time will tell if Nigeria will qualify for Morocco 2015, but at least the fans went home happy.

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So NFF rewarded stephen keshi for his victory over sudan with a sack.

Na wa ooo.