Nigeria fell to a shock 1-0 defeat at the Akwa Ibom Stadium to Uganda in an international friendly match played last night.
An 81st minute goal from Miya Faruku gave Uganda a famous victory in Uyo.
The Super Eagles desperately needed a victory to win back thetrust of their fans, after suffering the shock of not qualifying for the 2015 African Cup of Nations held in Equatorial Guinea.
Eagles captain Vincent Enyeama earned his 100th cap at his home town.
The homers almost made their early superiority count on 6 minutes when Hope Akpan flashed the ball on a one-on-one situation and forced a save from goalkeeper Dennis Onyango and Ahmed Musa failed to capitalise on the rebound.
Musa was in the thick of the action again moments later, but he failed to connect with Leon Balogun’s cross from close range.
Geoffrey Massa was a source of worry to the defence line of the Super Eagles with his direct running and powerful approach.
Daniel Amokachi’s side cranked up the pressure during the final 10 minutes of the first period, with Anthony Ujah coming close.
Nigeria conjured up one final chance in the game, but Musa was stopped by Onyango.
A neat interchange of passes by Odion Ighalo and Musa couldn’t deceive the East Africans as they held firm in the 50th minute.
With Super Eagles needing inspiration and the needed bite to unlock the Cranes’ defence the exciting Simon Moses was handed his official debut. The sleeky winger showed his quality with his deft touches. He brought some spark to the attack.
The Gent youngster outpaced two defenders. His low shot was kept out by Onyango. He also fired wide from 32 metres after series of step-overs.
Bulky striker Massa twisted past Nelson Ogbonnaya before unleashing a fierce drive off Enyeama’s post.
Eagles were made to pay for their misses when Miya fired home nine minutes from time as his shot deflected off Akeem Latifu past Enyeama for the only goal of the match.
Akpan unleashed a long range shot which was parried away by Onyango, before Simon’s sweet cross wasn’t connected by Aaron Samuel.
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