THE probability of a bad outing by the Super Eagles was averted last night when the inclusion of Nwankwo Kanu suddenly turned around a Super Eagles team that was battling against Abuja warm weather and the resilience of Harambee Stars, who rose to the occasion and started dictating the pace of the game.

Two times, they missed one-on-one chances against Nigeria and on another occasion, they just narrowly missed the target. The capacity crowd at the Abuja national stadium, was at this time apprehensive of the sudden drop in the pace of the Eagles, and the re-awakening of the Kenyan side.

The only consolation at this time was that Nigeria were already a goal up, courtesy of a superb Ike Uche goal, just three minutes into the game. He had dribbled about five players before blasting home. The strike received a loud ovation and that appeared to spur the Eagles on. But it all ended there as no more goal was scored and on resumption, the Kenyans were gaining greater possession, making penetrating runs but simply lacking the finishing. However, two of such situations were so close that only luck saved the Eagles.

When the crowd appeared impatient and started jeering in reaction to the slow pace of Eagles, who were passing the ball back many times, Kanu stepped up the game, moving forward and getting cheered up by the crowd. His sensational move forced Kenya to hack him down for a penalty. Nsofor scored the penalty and scored another one and sent the whole stadium dancing. The 3-0 was worth celebrating by the entire crowd that included the Vice President, some Ministers and Governors. The crowd attendance was superb.

Coach Amodu Shuaibu received commendations for fielding players who showed commitment in the preparations and leaving out the likes of Mikel Obi, Joseph Yobo and Taye Taiwo who were not even dressed for the match. They did not play the two friendly matches and Amodu's action was just a signal to make Eagles competitive. Amodu said it was good we scored three goals but added that the weather was still harsh on the players. The game started by 5p.m and it turned out to be a wise decision because the way the Kenyans played and the Eagles looked, it could have been different. He added that he was not experimenting but that the transformation would continue.

your comment
is needed,pls drop one

not a bad start, he should drop unserious players like mikel permanently,

Thought Nigerians don't want Kanu anymore