International Friendly: Eagles Best Pharaohs 1-0 In Asaba

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Onuachu celebrates with colleagues after his stunning opener

In what many soccer fans considered a remarkable improvement on their average showing against Seychelles in the last Group E AFCON qualifier, Nigeria’s Super Eagles on Tuesday redeemed their pride by inflicting a 1-0 defeat on the Pharaohs of Egypt in an international friendly.

The well-attended match, played at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, Delta State, saw FC Midtjylland striker Paul Onuachu sending the home fans into a frenzy as early as 10 seconds after kick-off.

Onuachu, making his first start for the Super Eagles, easily ghosted past a falling Egyptian defender before letting fly a ferocious right-footed shot that gave the Pharaohs’ goalkeeper no chance at all.

The beautifully executed goal will go into football history as one of the fastest ever. According to Total Sportek, Damian Mori, an A-League striker scored a goal in 3.69 seconds for his Adelaide City club against Sydney United in 1995.

Also, ex-Arsenal striker and Germany International, Lukas Podolski has a record of scoring another fast goal, when he scored in six (6) seconds during an international friendly between Germany and Ecuador in 2013.

FIFA recognises Podolski’s effort as the fastest goal in international football. With his feat, Onuachu has now entered the record books alongside Podolski.

Though this early goal spurred the Egyptians on as they took control of the midfield, and came out smoking with intense pressure on their hosts, the Eagles’ defence line, marshaled by William Trost-Ekong and Leon Balogun were up to the task.

Ekong, arguably among the outstanding performers on the Nigerian side, however, sustained a head injury and had his head bandaged early in the game.

But on resumption of the second half, Coach Gernot Rohr brought in Ikechukwu Ezenwa to replace Daniel Akpeyi in goal for Nigeria.

Interestingly, the Pharaohs kept piling the pressure with sustained attacks on the Nigerian defence, but were kept at bay by the duo of Ekong and Balogun, just as Ezenwa also came to the party with some breathtaking saves.

The Eagles made two other changes, as John Ogu gave way for Semiu Ajayi, while Etebo Oghenekaro replaced tired Alex Iwobi in the middle of the pack.

In the 88th minute of play, Coach Rohr also brought on Odion Ighalo as a replacement for the tiring lone goal scorer, Onuachu.

Nigeria’s goaltender, Ezenwa was called to duty in added time of the game as he made two brilliant saves to deny the Egyptian dangerman, Abdelmegid Islam.

Speaking at the post-match media conference, Egyptian coach, Javier Aguirre applauded his team’s performance even in defeat.

According to him, “We played good football today, and I must commend my players though we lost to Nigeria.

“We will take the positives from this friendly back home, as we continue to prepare our team for the AFCON.”

He said the absence of Africa’s footballer of the year, Mohammed Salah, was not felt by the team, as the young players were great on the night.

On his part, the Super Eagles’ Coach, Rohr described the friendly as a great match for both teams, as they continue their preparations for the AFCON.

“To me, today’s game is not just a good match, but a great one for both teams. Both teams played good football,” Rohr said. – With agency reports

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