The Super Eagles of Nigeria came out today with only one mission, to redeem their battered image after their embarrassing loss to Croatia and put smiles on the faces of millions of Nigerian football loving fans.
The Nigerian team went into the game as the last team in group D with no point, trailing behind group leaders Croatia who have 6 points after trashing the Argentines yesterday and Argentina and Iceland with one point each, occupying the second and third positions respectively.
The Eagles needed nothing but a win to stand any realistic chance of qualifying into the second round of the competition and the players who had been so heavily criticised after their last game promised to live up to expectation.
The game started with both teams trying to find their rhythm for the most part of the first half but without making any clear goal threatening chances. As the match went into halftime, the West African giants knew they had only 45 more minutes to do the needful and turn the game to their favour.
The second half resumed with the Super Eagles looking more fired up and soon into the second half on the 49th minutes, Ahmed Musa broke the deadlock with a masterpiece goal after cleverly bringing down a cross by Victor Moses, displacing the Iceland defender before smashing in for the opener.
The Eagles continued to impress and in the 75th minute, Musa again took delivery of a long cross and race past his marker before mesmerising the charging Iceland goalkeeper before slotting in the second in absolute beauty.
Iceland were handed a lifeline in the game with a penalty but they couldn’t covert as Iceland’s Gylfi Sigurdsson fired the ball wide over the goal post to complete an unlucky evening for the debutants.
Croatia now leads the group with a maximum six points, followed by Nigeria with three points and Iceland and Argentina in 3rd and respectively with one point each but separated by goal difference.