AFCON Qualifier: Rwanda Hold Super Eagles 0-0 In Kigali

• Nigerians Blame Egyptian Referee, Maarouf Eid Mansour, VAR for disallowed goal

Nigerian football fans are calling out Egyptian Referee, Mohamed Maarouf Eid Mansour after hosts, Amavubi of Rwanda stubbornly held the Super Eagles to goalless draw in their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 qualifier in Kigali on Tuesday afternoon.

With the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) unavailable inside the Amahoro National Stadium where President Paul Kagame watched the game, the Eagles were unable to break through the well-organised Rwandan defence line.

Brimming with confidence following their convincing 3-0 victory over the Benin Republic’s Cheetahs to open their qualification campaign, the Coach Austin Equaveon-led side the Super Eagles were found goalkeeper Fiacre Ntwali and a solid defence marshalled by Thierry Manzi and Claude Niyomugabo, difficult to beat.

The Rwandans, who picked a point on the road in their 1-1 draw against Libya in Tripoli on match day one, were lucky to keep at bay the star-studded Nigerian team featuring Ademola Lookman, Captain Troost Ekong, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukuweze, Wilfred Ndidi, Victor Boniface and Frank Onyeka, among others.

Playing before their vociferous home crowd with incredible backing, the Rwandans did not give the visiting Nigerians any breathing space but were saved from heartbreak when the centre referee inexplicably cancelled the goal scored by Lookman for a foul.

Though Victor Boniface hit the post on another opportunity, the Eagles were a bit wasteful as the first half ended on a goalless note.

Despite acting Head Coach Eguavoen replacing Samuel Chukuweze and Victor Boniface in the second half with Victor Osimhen and Moses Simon in the attack and Raphael Onyedika and Frank Onyeka coming on for Wilfred Ndidi and Fisayo Dele Bashiru, the Super Eagles’ best efforts failed to rattle the hosts.

With the Rwandans managing to hold out for a draw, Nigerian football fans lamented that poor officiating cost the Super Eagles a well-deserved goal against Rwanda, blaming the Egyptian referee for his poor performance in handling the proceedings.

Most of the fans on social media believe that the referee sabotaged the Super Eagles’ efforts in the game calling a foul on the goal by Lookman.

They also were of the opinion that if the goal had stood the tempo of the game would be different forcing the Rwandans to attack more.

The Super Eagles will now continue their AFCON 2025 qualification journey with a home and away fixture against Libya in October 2024.