Super Eagles secure their first win in four-nation tournament with narrow victory over Iran

NIGERIA'S Super Eagles have won their first match in the ongoing four-nation pre-World Cup tournament currently taking place in Turkey with a 2-1 victory over Iran thanks top goals from Akor Adams and Moses Simon.

In the match played at Turkey's Antalya Stadium earlier today, Nigeria made a bright start and took the lead in the sixth minute through Simon. He produced a moment of brilliance, picking up the ball on the counter-attack, gliding past his marker and finishing clinically with a shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

After that, the Eagles took control of the game and should have scored more before the interval as the Iranians never got into the match until half time. Early in the second half, the team continued with where it left off, with Adams scoring in the 51st minute being fed the ball by Ademola Lookman whose mesmerising run had split the Iranian defence.

Unfortunately, the Eagles then surrendered their total control of the game following the substitution of the two centrebacks Semi Ajayi and Igor Ogbu as the introduction of debutants Emmanuel Fernandez and Chibuike Nwaiwu made Nigeria unsettled as the back. Fernandez was introduced at the start of the second half in place of Ajayi, while Nwaiwu came on in the 57th minute for the injured Igoh Ogbu.

Mix-ups at the back gifted Iran with a corner in the 67th minute from which they scored. A failure to deal with the set piece allowed the Iranians to pull a goal back through former Porto and Inter Milan forward Mehdi Taremi and give the World Cup team hope but Nigeria held on and later resumed command of the game.

Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle made further  changes in the 69th minute with a triple substitution, introducing Paul Onuachu, Chidera Ejuke and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru for Chukwueze, Simon and Adams. Although Iran found the back of the net again, the goal was ruled out for hand ball and as the game progressed, Nigeria looked the more likely to score, especially on the counter-attack.

In the final minutes of the game, Coventry midfielder Frank Onyeka came on for Lookman to shore up the midfield, enabling Nigeria to end the match comfortably.  Nigeria's Eagles will now turn their attention to their next fixture in the tournament when they face Jordan on Tuesday, March 31.

Iranian coach Amir Ghalenoei praised the Super Eagles after today's match saying he was impressed by the physically imposing Nigerian side. He also highlighted the calibre of players at the disposal of Mr Chelle, saying this gave Nigeria the advantage.

Mr Ghalenoei said: "I think this was a very useful preparation game, especially since we were able to implement Plan B in defence against a strong and physical team like Nigeria. Nigeria was a very good team and all eleven players on this team play in major European leagues such as Spain, Italy, England, France, Greece and Turkey.

"The national team needs such games. We also tried to use more players and fortunately, with the new rules and the possibility of making eight substitutions, we had a good opportunity to evaluate different players."

Line-up:

Okoye
Osayi-Samuel
Onyemachi
Ajayi (Fernandez)
Ogbu (Nwaiu)
Ndidi
Iwobi
Lookman (Onyeka)
Chukwueze (Dele-Bashiru)
Simon (Ejuke)
Adams( Onuachu)