Brazil Hold Nigeria 1-1 In International Friendly
- Injury scare for Neymar
Super Eagles new boy, Joe Aribo continued his sparkling form wearing the national team colours on Sunday in Singapore with a second goal in two matches.
The international friendly, which threw up injury worries for Neymar under 12 minutes, also stretched Brazil’s winless run to four matches.
The Selecao’s came from behind to level things at one-all few minutes after resumption of play in the second half.
Scottish import, Aribo had put the Eagles ahead in the 35th minute with a sublime finish from close range. Casemiro’s second-half strike even out matters and saved the Brazilians from a shock defeat.
Interestingly, the one-all stalemate against Nigeria indicated that the South American Champions are yet to shake-off their post-Copa America malaise. Nyemar, only restored to the starting XI early last month, was seen clutching at his hamstring as he headed to the bench with just 12th minute into the encounter.
With the Super Eagles digging deep to stalemate matter with the five-time world champions, football enthusiasts took to social media to laud the players’ performance with ‘Take a bow’ Twitter praises
Many football pundits and supporters all have praises for Nigeria, maintaining that the draw is a great result for the 2019 AFCON bronze medalists against the five-time world champions.
On the back of their impressive showing, former Nigerian international Mutiu Adepoju said the outcome is ‘a sign of good things to come’
Applauding the Gernot Rohr’s men for keeping the South Americans in check, the former Super Eagles player applauded the feat and expressed optimism of better days ahead for Nigeria’s football.
Adepoju, who had 54 caps as a Nigerian international, believes the future is bright for the three-time African champions following their performance in Singapore.
“Well-done brave Super Eagles. This draw looks like a win and I believe this is a sign of good things to come for our senior national team,” Adepoju tweeted.
“Also, there are lots of lessons to take home against Brazil and that is very important.”
The last meeting between both countries in a friendly was in 2003 when the Super Eagles lost 3-0 inside the Abuja National Stadium, now MKO Abiola Stadium. – With agency report
