Nigeria Super Eagles on Monday afternoon thrashed football minnows São Tomé and Príncipe 10-0 in an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying game decided at the Stade Adrar in Morocco.
Jose Peseiro’s Eagles went into the game on the back of a 2-1 home win over Sierra Leone last week knowing fully well that only a comprehensive bashing would be acceptable by their fans.
The 2013 AFCON winners opened the floodgate of goals in the 9th minute through top marksman Victor Osimhen who headed home Moses Simon’s cross. They however had to wait almost 20 minutes before adding a second through Simon who tapped home Osimhen’s assist.
Osimhen again provided a brilliant pass for Terem Moffi to score his first Nigerian goal two minutes before half time. The Napoli man again scored the first goal of the second half, completing his brace to make it 4-0 before Oghenekaro Etebo curled home a free kick for 5-0.
Moffi then completed his brace on the hour mark before Leicester winger Ademola Lookman got in on the act. Team captain Ahmed Musa came on to provide two assists for Osimhen before Emmanuel Dennis completed the rout with a stoppage time penalty.
The comprehensive win marked a record for Nigeria’s senior national team as their biggest ever win in any football match. It surpasses the 10-1 friendly win over Dahomey in 1999 and the 7-1 AFCON qualifying win over Burkina Faso in 1991.
Nigeria remain top of Group A after two round of matches and will next face Guinea Bissau in a double-header schedule in September. The top two teams in the group after the six matches will qualify for next year’s AFCON tournament to be hosted by Coted’voire.
Nigeria lineup vs Sao Tome:
Uzoho; Ola Aina (Shehu 58′), Semi Ajayi, Calvin Bassey (Balogun 71′), Sanusi; Etebo, Iwobi; Moses Simon (A. Musa 58′), Moffi (Sadiq Umar 71′), Osimhen, Lookman (Dennis 71′).
