October 10, (THEWILL) –Â Nigeria’s senior men’s national football team came from a disappointing first leg home defeat against the Wild Beasts of the Central African Republic (CAR) to redeem their image by handing them a 2-0 loss in Douala, Cameroon on the return fixture of their double-header qualifiers for Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
First half goals from Leon Balogun, who opened the scoring in the 29th minute, and Victor Osimhem, whose goal wrapped up proceedings in extra time of the first 45 minutes, were all the Super Eagles needed to claim their pound of flesh back and restore some of their lost pride in the first leg.
That pride which they lost when the Wild Beasts broke the Super Eagles’ unbeaten run in the 2022 World cup qualification stages of the Group C draw was an upset that placed extra pressure on the team but especially on the manager, Gernot Rohr, whose tactical chops came under extreme scrutiny given the gap in quality between the Eagles and the Wild Beasts.
There was a chance for the visitors to extend their lead in the 53rd minute after the ball went past the keeper, Prince Samolah, but the opportunity was cleared by the CAR defense, which made the difference in Thursday’s first leg by restricting the Super Eagles from converting any of the chances that Osimhen and Kelechi Iheanacho were able to create before Iheanacho was substituted in the second period.
In the second half on Sunday in Cameroon, Rohr brought on Kenneth Omeruo for the goal-scorer Balogun after the Glasgow Rangers defender of the Scottish Premiership complained of suffering an injury to his leg.
As the Confederation of African Football (CAF) did not find the football pitches in the CAR up to standard for international matches and it was also not deemed safe for the return match to be hosted in the CAR due to the unrest in some parts of the country, the game took place in Douala, Cameroon.
With the result, Nigeria’s lead has been consolidated on top of Group C as the Super Eagles now lead with nine points after four matches played so far. After the same number of matches, CAR is third on four points, while Cape Verde is second with the same number of points and Liberia at the bottom with three points.
However, Cape Verde and Liberia will clash on Sunday evening for their fourth game of the group stage and that group standing might change depending on the result of that fixture.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
