Iheanacho, Ideye strike, as Super Eagles down Luxembourg 3-1

Stop experimenting with players, Obuh tells Eagles’ coaches

Kelechi Iheanacho yesterday justified his inclusion in the Super Eagles’ starting line up when he crowned his outstanding performance with a goal against Luxembourg in their international friendly.

Iheanacho, who came in as a substitute and scored the winning goal in Nigeria’s 1-0 defeat of Mali in France on Friday, played the entire 93 minutes as the Super Eagles beat their hosts 3-1 at the Stade Josy Barthel yesterday.

Returnee striker, Brown Ideye, opened scores for the Eagles in the 36th minute of the game dominated by Nigeria. The first half ended 1-0 in favour of the Eagles.

Iheanacho made it 2-0 for Nigeria in the 69th minute. That goal served as the push the Eagles needed to go for more goals, with substitute Babatunde Michael, Odion Ighalo and Simon Moses adding pace to Nigeria’s attack.

However, the hosts ensured a frantic end to the game when Vincent Thil reduced the tally to 2-1 in the 90th minute. But rather than dampen the enthusiasm of the Nigerians, Luxembourg’s lone goal spurred the Eagles to search for goals to reclaim their two-goal lead.

That strike came in the 93rd minute off the boots of Ighalo, who had earlier replaced Ideye in the 71st minute.

Meanwhile, former national U-20 Coach, John Obuh, has advised Super Eagles’ coaches to stop the unending experimentation with players and begin to assemble a squad that will stand the taste of time.

Obuh believes the constant changes in playing personnel has not helped the senior national team, adding the coaches should by now have a core of players to build a good team.

He says the 1-0m defeat of Mali in an international friendly on Friday and Yesterday’s victory over Luxembourg would help Nigeria’s cause in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers slated to commence later this year.

“Building the Eagles with the best players should be our priority now. The testing process should not be done for a long time… it is killing the progress of the Eagles. The Eagles also need more friendlies to blend well,’’ he said.

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