By Yemi Sodeeq
Kelechi Iheanacho’s 30th minutes wondrous strike was enough for the Super Eagles of Nigeria to get past Pharaohs of Egypt in the Group D opening match at the ongoing AFCON 2021 in Cameroon.
Coach Austin Eguavoen led side was the dominant side throughout the game- clinging off the attackers of the Egyptian side with a composed and compact defense set-up.
Eagles had the best part of the game with its setup -even while some football enthusiasts back home had given up on the game – with basis revolving around the past meetings of both sides- especially opening games.
In 1963, Egypt defeated the Eagles in the opening game(6-3) of the competition and also repeat the same feat in 2010 (3-1) as they would go on to win the Mundial on the two occasions.
With this result, Super Eagles have now increased their dominance over the Pharaohs with seven wins from their last 11 meetings, leaving just three wins to the North African side while sharing a draw.
Even while the Egyptian side had a fair share of the first half, the Eagles came back in the second half with a renewed vigour and vitality -showing class and composure albeit with some of their goal opportunities being wasted.
Specifically,it was a good start for Coach Eguavoen who was called up to tinker with the team after Gernot Rohr was relieved of his job less than a month to the continental Mundial.
The encounter, which was the most talked about game of the competition so far earlier witnessed an odd moment when the match ball was changed three times in the first half of the game.
The 1 nil victory will see the Eagles topping the group D table momentarily while they wait for the result of the other game between Sudan and Guinea Bissau.
Nigeria will face Sudan in their next game on Saturday, January 14th at 5 pm Nigerian time.