The Super Eagles shook off fatigue from their
long journey from South Africa to steamroll Tahiti in their first group game of
the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil. The beat the Pacific Islanders 6-1 on
Monday.
In a match that saw Nigeria missing several
begging chances, defender Elderson Echiejile got two goals, while Italy-based
Nnamdi Oduamadi registered the first hat trick of the competition.
Jonathan Tehau, who pulled one back for Tahiti,
was on the weeping end when he netted an own-goal.
It was Tahiti’s first appearance at the
Confederation Cup and Nigeria’s second. That fact, however, took nothing away
from the African champions as they dominated every department of the game.
The Tahitians had adopted a five-man defensive
formation but Echiejile’s fifth minute goal forced them out, making the game
more fluid. That only opened the way for Oduamadi five minutes later when he
grabbed a spilled ball from goalkeeper Xavier Samin to make it 2-0. He struck
again in the 26th minute to make it 3-1.
Tahue, grabbing his fourth international goal,
scored Tahiti’s first goal at the Confederations Cup, but he was to be on the
scorers’ sheet again when he aided Nigeria to their fourth goal with an own-goal
in the 68th minute.
Oduamadi, however, resumed scoring in the 76th
minute, getting an assist from Brown iideye, who himself had missed three
one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
It was Echiejile who capped it all with an assist
from Ahmed Musa to finish the game at 6-1 in the 80th minute.
Coach Stephen Keshi was obviously unimpressed
with the team’s missed chances but promised he would work on the attack before
their next game against Uruguay.
“We didn’t play at a high tempo. Their
performance was not as good as it was against Mexico. Perhaps they were looking
at the Tahitians as a weaker team. We’re still going to work on that,” he said
after the game.
“The fatigue was still there but we hope to
freshen up before our game against Uruguay.”
The Nigerian team had arrived late for the
competition, landing in Brazil in the early hours of Sunday, few hours before
their first training.
Nigeria now top Group B with three points and
five goals advantage ahead of Spain who have three points but one goal
advantage.
Nigeria will next meet Uruguay on Thursday in
their second group game.
What a good start for Nigeria. LOOD Naija
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