Nigeria’s Super Eagles were held to a goalless draw by Zanzibar in the pre-CHAN friendly played on Monday afternoon, www.aclsports.com reports.
Eric Chelle’s men, who dominated the majority of the game, failed to beat the opposition’s defence in 90 minutes, and will now have to regroup for the second leg of the double-header on Thursday.
As seen in most of the test games, Chelle named his usual 4-1-3-2 formation with number one Ani Ozoemena starting in goal, Sodiq Ismail at right back, Michael Tochukwu in the lone DM role, and Anthony Ijoma, who scored three goals in his previous three appearances, started upfront alongside Sikiru Alimi.
The Super Eagles side laboured for most parts of the game, but they could not find a way past their hosts at the Mao Zedong Stadium. Goalkeeper Ani Ozoemena was basically on holiday in the game. The Super Eagles arrived in Zanzibar on Friday and trained twice before the game on Monday afternoon.
Michael Tochukwu stood out for Eric Chelle’s side, while the likes of Taiwo Abdulrafiu, Leonard Ngenge, and Anthony Ijoma also performed well in the game. Shola Adelani, Jabbar Malik, Godwin Obaje, and Qudus Akanni were some of the substitutes that came on during the contest.
After the goalless affair on Monday afternoon, the teams will meet again on Thursday for the second leg before the 2024 CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda gets underway on Saturday.
