By Akinwale Kasali
A 78th Minute own goal from Kenny Santos was all the Super Eagles of Nigeria needed to record a 2-1 win in the tension soaked encounter with the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde in the Group C qualifying match for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Dylan Tavares had given the Indian Ocean nation the lead in the 19th minute, beating Super Eagles goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye, with a right footed volley.
The Ahmed Musa captained team put themselves together and mounted pressure on their host, leading to the much needed equalizer courtesy of Napoli Football Club of Italy striker, Victor Osimhen in the 39th minute.
The first half ended 1-1 apiece with Coach Gernot Rohr introducing Henry Onyekuru and Terem Moffi in the second half for Ahmed Musa and Moses Simon.
The substitution paid off, as the new players mounted pressure on the Cape Verdeans leading to panic in their defense resulting into the own goal.
In the space of two minutes, Maduka Okoye, Henry Onyekuru and Kenneth Omeruo were booked by the Moroccan referee for time wasting and for an infringement.
As the referee signaled the end of the encounter, the excited players hugged themselves happily for a job well done.
With this victory, the Super Eagles have an 100 percent record in the qualifiers garnering Six points from two matches.
Liberia has three points following their 1-0 victory over the Central African Republic in Bangui.
Cape Verde and Central African Republic have One point apiece.
The Super Eagles will have a double header with the Central African Republic in Lagos and Bangui in October 2021, for Day 3 and 4 of the qualifiers.
For the feat, Super Eagles, smiled home with a whopping N20 Million promised them by Air Peace Chairman, Allen Onyema.
Onyema had promised the players the sum if they record a victory in Praia, Cape Verde Capital, as they boarded the Airline enroute Cape Verde for this match.
Onyema had said, “If you win this match, I am going to give the team N20 million on arrival. I’ll bring the cash and hand it over.
“This will serve as a stepping stone in unifying our Nation. Go there and die for the country.
“You won your first match resoundingly, and we expect that the one happening in Cape Verde in 24hours time will not be different.
“You’re carrying on your young shoulders the aspirations and the hopes of a Nation. You must help us in restoring hope to this country.
“Nigeria is a great country with so much potentials to achieve. We are yet to get there. We may have our differences but we love ourselves.
“We knew some of our players have to leave after the match and they had to do well before leaving because they cannot go to Cape Verde.”
The Super Eagles played without Eight of their regulars who had to return to their Clubs due to the Covid-19 restriction by the United Kingdom authority on Countries regarded as Red Zone Alert for the deadly pandemic.
