Super Eagles Keep 2022 World Cup Dreams Alive

• Beat Cape Verde 2-1 in Mindelo

Two defensive blunders from hosts, Cape Verde were all Nigeria’s Super Eagles needed to secure maximum points as they achieved back-to-back victories in their Group C qualification match for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Also, the match presented a memorable outing for Captain Ahmed Musa who made his 100th appearance for the Super Eagles while Malmo’s Innocent Bonke and Bolgona’s Kingsley Michael were handed starting debuts, in the absence of old hands, Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi and Joe Aribo of Scottish Premiership side, Rangers.

Indeed, it was a crucial win on the road for the three-time African champions who are slowly establishing their dominance on the Group C qualifying table.

Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen’s strike, and Kenny Rocha Santos’ own goal effectively pushed Nigeria to come from behind and edged past Cape Verde 2-1 in their qualifying game.

Drawing the first blood in the 19th minute, the Blue Sharks’ striker, Dylan Dos Santos was outstanding in beating the Eagles’ offside trap to fire a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Maduka Okoye.

Five minutes later, Ryan Mendes tested the Super Eagles shot-stopper with another shot but it went off target. Moments later, Osimhen and Ejuke linked up a few minutes later as Nigeria kept pushing for an equaliser and the CSKA Moscow winger forced Cape Verde’s Vozinha to parry his long-range shot for a corner-kick.

Their push finally paid off as Osimhen capitalised on a defensive error to draw both teams level in the 29th minute. Continuously, Ejuke proved to be a threat to the Blue Sharks’ defence with his long-range efforts, he again forced Vozinha to make a fine save off his curling right shot from the edge of the box.

Nigeria started the second half with a much higher tempo with Nantes winger Moses Simon winning a number of fouls for the visitors.

Just before the hour-mark, Cape Verde coach Bubista opted to introduce Garry Rodrigues for Vagner while Rohr made his tactical changes in the 70th minute as Henry Onyekuru and Terem Moffi replaced Simon and Musa respectively.

Onyekuru made an instant impact but his effort lacked power to beat Vozinha, however, they finally turned the game around after another defensive error again. Kenny Rocha Santos played the ball into his team’s net after the goalkeeper had left his position.

With three minutes left on the clock, Vagner Dias nearly equalised for the hosts but his header went slightly off target. The victory has now stretched Nigeria’s lead in Group C to six points after two games while Cape Verde have just gathered just a point and they are behind second-placed Liberia.

In the other group C encounter on Tuesday, Kpah Sherman helped Liberia beat Central African Republic (CAR) 1-0 with his 86th-minute effort in Douala.

For Nigeria, the attention now shifts to next month’s double-header clash against CAR with the aim of extending their dominance in the group while Cape Verde have a date with Liberia in October. – With Goal.com reports