MATCH REPORT: Cape Verde 0 - 0 Nigeria

 

Nigeria's Super Eagles had to settle for a 0-0 draw with fellow Afcon partipants, Cape Verde on Wednesday in a friendly match played in Portugal.

The first half was a disappointing performance by the Super Eagles with the Blue Sharks settling the fastest and testing Austin Ejide in the fifth minute though the shot from Heldon Ramos was well parried away.

Emenike almost had a scoring chance in the seventh minute but the Blue Sharks' captain, Nando took the ball off his toes. There was a period of keep-ball by the Super Eagles in the eighth to the ninth minute but Cape Verde broke to force Ejide to another save.


The Sharks got the first corner kick in the 15th minute which was well cleared. In the 17th minute, Ambrose Efe gave away the ball cheaply to Platini but he could only play a tame shot which Ejide easily gathered and at this point Cape Verde had attempted six shots while the Nigerian team was yet to muster any effort.

Ambrose was booked in the 18th minute for a reckless foul on Platini which must have been borne out of frustration. The first shot on target by the Super Eagles was by Ahmed Musa off a pass from Emmanuel Emenike.

Ejide was involved in a collision from a corner kick in the 25th minute and eventually has to be replaced by Vincent Enyeama. Emenike continued to cause havoc down the right side of attack and another pass was cleared.

Yobo was shown a yellow card in the 33rd minute off another loose ball by Ambrose. The resultant free kick hits Ogenyi Onazi for a corner kick to the Sharks.

Elderson followed Ambrose and Yobo into the book in the 36 minute as he tugged back No.7, who had beaten him for pace.

In the 43rd minute, Platini rounded Echiejile, Ogude and Onazi to send a pass to Heldon but Oboabona was adjudged to have clipped the forward which replays showed was a wrong decision by referee Hugo Miguel.

The highlight of the first half was the altercation between Nando and Victor Moses which resulted in the fourth official separating the warring duo as both were booked.

A raft of substitutions saw Brown Ideye, Nosa Igiebor and Kenneth Omeruo on for Moses, Fegor Ogude and Ambrose respectively.

Straight away it was an improved performance with the trickery and knowledge of Igiebor in creative capacity as the Eagles started pushing the Sharks backwards.

Two quick free kicks were earned in the 50th and 51st minutes but the delivery was poor from Mikel Obi.

In the 55th minute, pressure from Musa on Jozimar Dias, who had come on for Fredson Tavares created a scoring chance for Onazi but his shot was easily blocked with the goalkeeper off his line.
The Nigerians continued to exert pressure with a higher tempo in midfield. In the 57th minute, a through ball from Ideye was not well collected by Musa or else it would have been a one on one situation against the goalkeeper.

There was a lull in action as the Eagles contained the Sharks as Ikechukwu Uche came on for Emenike in the 61st minute. In the 66th minute, a move started on the right by right back Omeruo was completed by the former junior international when he blasted wide.

Obiorah Nwankwo came on for Onazi, who had misplaced a lot of passes during the game as the match petered out with Cape Verde attempting a late winner in added time through Odysseu Guy Ramos but his header went wide.

The Sharks would be better pleased with the result and performance but one has to add that it was a game of two halves as Cape Verde dominated in the first half while Nigeria took over in the second.
Nigeria will take on Angola in their final warm up match for the Afcon where they are drawn in Group C alongside Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

GOAL.COM

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