2 Important Things To Takeaway As Super Eagles Draw Saudi Arabia

The Super Eagles of Nigeria witness first draw after a massive win in its last fixture against Sao Tome and Principe in Uyo, AkwaIbom State npflupdates.com reports.

     

     

The Super Eagles were held to a 2-2 draw by Saudi Arabia’s senior men’s national football team on Friday. And that’s the team’s first outing after qualifying for the 2023 African Cup Of Nations AFCON, in Ivory Coast next year.

Also read: Okocha Drops Exclusive Analysis About Super Eagles AFCON Group

It was a keenly contested fixture that saw both sides battling for possessions in the first half. And at halftime, the international friendly ended in a stalemate.

FT in Portimao: Saudi Arabia 2-2 Nigeria #soarsupereagles #letsdoitagain pic.twitter.com/mNwnkI5fPJ

— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) October 13, 2023

The Asian giants however broke the deadlock in the 60th minute through an Al-Faraj strik; and that was after so many goal-scoring opportunities were missed by the Super Eagles attackers.

Nigeria after 13 minutes from the first goal, equalized through an owngoal from a Saudi Arabian player. Tactical changes by coach Jose Peseiro, that saw Kelechi Iheanacho got introduced paid off, as the Leicester City’s forward, struck nicely to give Nigeria the lead  for the first time in the game in the 81st minute.

Super Eagles fail to secure first win after AFCON qualification

When Nigerian fans were about to go wild in jubilation, Saudi Arabia’s set-piece taker Mohammed scored from a free-kick in the stoppage time, to restore parity.

Two important things can be taken away from the match, especially now that Nigeria will be aiming for it’s fourth title in Cote d’Ivoire.

First, Nigeria’s attacking department needs to buckle up and start converting every chances they get. Had it been one-third of their chances against Saudi Arabia were converted, it’d have been a disastrous outing the Arabians.

Second, and arguably the most important, is the goalkeeping department. A state of emergency has to be declared for the Super Eagles goalkeeping department. First choice Goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho had an awful evening, after conceding an easy goal today.

The goalkeeper trainers at the national team needs to as a matter of urgency find a capable hand, that can take charge of the goal during the AFCON.

Also read: AFCON 2023: 3 Important Things You Should Know About Super Eagles Group

“Many options are there to be exploited, Noah Atubolu, Sebastian Osigwe, Tobias Lawal, Maduka Okoye, Ojo Olorunleke, Adebayo Adeleye and others should be evaluated and see what they can do,” NPFLUpdates in-house analyst Mr Best said.