Nigerians on Monday heaped praises on the Super Eagles after the three-time African champions exceeded expectations in a 10-0 mauling of Sao Tome in a 2023 African Cup of Nations qualifying match at the Grand Stade D’Agadir in Morocco on Monday.
This is the Eagles’ biggest win since the 10-1 win over Dahomey (now Benin Republic) on November 28, 1959.
The Eagles opened the scoring after 10 minutes, Napoli striker Victor Osimhen heading home a cross from Moses Simon. Osimhen then turned provider for the Nantes winger when he set him up for the second goal in the 28th minute.
And just before half time, Terem Moffi made it 3-0, his first Super Eagles goal, beating his marker inside the box before firing past Anastacio Braganca, in goal for ‘The Falcons and True Parrots.’
Three minutes after the restart, Osimhen headed home his second goal of the day, thanks to a cross from Lookman.
In the 55th minute, Etebo made it 5-0 when he curled in a delightful free-kick from the edge of the box.
Moffi got his brace on the hour, the forward slotting home off a low cross inside the box by left-back Zaidu Sanusi.
Four minutes later, Lookman made it 7-0 when he fired home a rebound after Moffi’s cutback to Osimhen had been thwarted by Braganca.
Osimhen completed his hat-trick a minute later as he got on the end of a through ball before stabbing beyond the opposing shot-stopper.
He then netted his fourth goal in the 84th minute in a similar move before he struck the post in the closing moments of the encounter. The Napoli striker has now scored 15 goals for Nigeria.
Substitute Emmanuel Dennis wrapped up the rout in stoppage time, when he scored from the penalty spot after he had been brought down inside the box.
The Ex-internationals and fans praised the team for their impressive performance.
Sylvanus Okpala, a 1980 and 2013 AFCON winner as player and assistant coach respectively, said, “It’s a good one, three points and scoring 10 goals. Every match is important, whether the opponent is a strong one or not. Scoring 10 goals is impressive, that was a huge one for the team. They’ve gotten the three points, now they should continue.”
Former U-23 star and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games silver medallist, Femi Ajilore, added, “I didn’t expect anything less than a good performance from the boys. I was expecting a 5-0 score line, since it’s 10-0, it’s a very welcome development. It’ll improve the confidence level of our strikers as it’s been a while since we scored many goals.”
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