Anorthosis Famagusta full back Abdullahi Shehu was named the Big Bull Rice Man of The Match after his impressive performance inspired Nigeria to a 1-0 win over Zambia in Uyo on Saturday.
Arsenal star Alex Iwobi was the match winner courtesy of his 73rd minute strike well assisted by the former Under-20 and Under-23 star, Abdullahi.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after unveiling Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group as one of its new partners on Friday announced a sumptuous prize for the Man of the Match ahead of Saturday’s game.
Abdullahi emerged the inaugural winner of the award, beating Alex Iwobi to a keenly contested poll conducted by some of the accredited journalists at the game.
The former Kano Pillars man polled 21 out of the total 39 votes cast, a representation of 54% while Iwobi polled 15 votes, representing 34.86% of the votes.
Super Eagles defender Leon Balogun got two votes with captain John Mikel Obi receiving a single vote.
Asides his decisive defensive display, Abdullahi contributed to the team’s attack in his forays forward and delivered an important for the winner, displaying good vision and intelligence to cut back for an unmarked Iwobi who made no mistake finishing.
Shehu thus claimed the #1,000,000 cash prize and ten bags of rice earmarked for the winner. He has since thanked Nigerians for their support on his official Twitter handle.
