Super Eagles of Nigeria were held to a 2-2 draw by Jordan’s Al-Nashama in their second international friendly game, which was decided on Tuesday evening, www.aclsports.com reports.
Following their 2-1 victory over Iran in Antalya on Friday, Head Coach Eric Chelle made a couple of changes to his squad for this second encounter at the Corendon Airlines Park.
Defenders Semi Ajayi and Bruno Onyemaechi (whose wife was delivered of a baby), as well as goalkeeper Maduka Okoye (thigh injury), left camp for this game, meaning the likes of Emmanuel Fernandez, Francis Uzoho, and Zaidu Sanusi replaced them in the starting XI from the previous game.
FIFA World Cup-bound Jordan showed they are no longer paperweights when they took the lead from a well-struck free-kick moments into the game. Mousa Tamari’s effort flew past the diving Uzoho for the game’s opening goal in the 17th minute.
Despite the slow start, Chelle’s boys woke up and started to combine better as Frank Onyeka and Raphael Onyedika grew into the game. Having seen the latter’s goal disallowed for offside moments earlier, the Super Eagles grabbed their equalizer through in-form Moses Simon in the 25th minute.
Just four minutes before the break, Nigeria went in front for the first time in the contest when Fernandez, on his full debut, calmly slotted past the goalkeeper, much to the delight of the pocket of Nigerians in the stands. The lead was maintained until the break.
After the interval, a lot of changes were made by both technical benches as they tried to alter the scoreline. On his part, Chelle sent on the likes of Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi, and goalkeeper Adebayo Adeleye in place of Uzoho.
However, it was Al-Nashama that found the all-important equalizer 13 minutes from time. Mohammad Al Aldahod found space at the back of Nigeria’s backline before beating the onrushing goalkeeper calmly for the goal. Neither side could find the winner as they settled for a share of the spoils, with Alex Iwobi sent off late on.
The next international window falls in June, just ahead of the FIFA World Cup in the Americas—a tournament Nigeria failed to qualify for. During that break, the Super Eagles are expected to engage in friendly matches, likely against teams preparing for the Mundial.
