Friendly: Nigeria Humiliates Argentina 4-2
Against bookmakers’ permutations, a second half brace by Arsenal and Nigeria’s forward, Alex Iwobi saw the Super Eagles dismantling Argentina 4-2 in stunning fashion on Tuesday night’s international friendly.
This is as Manchester City’s star, Sergio Aguero continued his scoring spree for Argentina in a highly competitive encounter played in Krasnodar, one of the venues that will host World Cup matches next year in Russia.
Following Keeper Daniel Akpeyi’s error, Ever Banega had neatly curled a free-kick into Nigeria’s net in the 25th minute before Aguero’s 36th minutes strike that puts him clear in third place on the South Americans’ all-time scoring standing with 36 goals.
It was one of the worst outings for the Jorge Sampaoli’s side as they woefully failed to lift their game in the second half where the Eagles became unstoppable scoring three times without a reply from the Argentines who missed the usually imposing presence of their captain and Barcelona idol, Lionel Messi.
From 2-0 down within the first 36 minutes, the Super Eagles began their come-back stunts in the 44th minute with Kelechi Iheanacho inspiring a hitherto lack-lustre Nigeria side through a dazzling free-kick that gave Agustine Marchesin no chance as he could only parry the ball into his net to end the first half on a 2-1 note.
With both sides making substitutions on resumption of play, the Argentines’ confidence seemed to evaporate as two quick goals from Iwobi and Russia-based Bryan Idowu within a space of three minutes swung the match in favour of Nigeria. It was therefore not surprising when Iwobi was again on target after rounding Javier Mascherano to fire past the out-stretched hands of Keeper Marchesin for Eagles’ fourth goal on the hight.
On the night, goalkeeping errors by Nigeria’s Daniel Akpeyi saw Coach Gernot Rohr handing a debut shirt to 19 year-old Francis Uzoho who plays for Deportivo de La Coruña in Spanish La Liga.
The victory inflicts Nigeria’s second ever defeat on the Argentines at the senior level. Overall, the South Americans have won five; drawn one; and lost two.
