Nigeria 2 - Madagasca 0,Any cause for rejoicing?

The way they jump and tumble after the goals,you would have think ,they just scored a goal in the finals of world cup,considering their opponents,i wonder if there is any cause at all for rejoicing.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria yesterday at the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar defeated their Madagascar counterparts 2-0 in the first leg of the first round of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

But the Eagles will now rue not to have taken the other chances they created as they place second behind Guinea after the Syli Stars won 4-1 in Ethiopia in their qualifying group.


Rubin Kazan of Russia striker Obafemi Martins put Nigeria ahead 20 minutes into the first half after blunt attacking play in the early minutes of the game, while Esperance of Tunisia attacking pearl Michael Eneramo extended the lead in the 43rd minute.

Martins was again very much involved in the second Nigerian goal when he dribbled his way into the Madagascar box from the left before he delivered a low cut-back for Esperance striker Michael Eneramo to make hay with a tap-in.

Martins was again on target late in the second half with a header but the Tunisian referee Jedidi Slim controversially disallowed this effort for a foul on the Madagascar goalkeeper.

Though the visitors ran ring round the Nigerian defence anchored by Joseph Yobo and assisted by Danny Shittu, there was no anxious moment as all their efforts were not on target.

Algeria got their first look at goal against Tanzania when Abdelkader Ghezzal, seen in action in the Cup of Nations in January, controlled a free kick with his knee before volleying the ball straight at the opposing keeper.
Interestingly, both Guinea and Nigeria will square off in a decisive qualifier next month in Conakry to give a clearer picture in that group.

Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who was mostly on holidays for the duration of the game, was called to make a finger-tip save with five minutes left on the clock. He scrambled away a goal-bound shot for a corner to the relief of the packed Calabar Stadium.

Both Eneramo and Martins had chances to give the Eagles a far more convincing home win.

Eneramo could have opened scoring as early as the first minute but he stumbled when all alone with the goalkeeper, while the Madagascar shot stopper Rambelomasina made a point-blank save off Martins after the break.

One of the positives for Nigeria from this clash was that there were full international debuts for former schoolboy international Stanley Okoro and Ahmed Musa, who finished top scorer in the Nigeria Premier League last season with 18 goals.

Spain-based midfielder Kalu Uche was also lively and continued to impress after scoring two goals at the recent World Cup in South Africa.

But the match became even more intense in the closing stages, with the Madagascans throwing more men in the attack in search of goals, and in one of such sojourns, Vincent Enyeama who was in goal for Nigeria was made to dive full length to punch out a goal-bound shot.

Football..........? No time!