CD Nacional of Portugal summer signing, Ibrahim Alhassan (Muazzam) has received a big dose of rave reviews, following his stunning performance in his debut for the club against Boavista.
Although Nacional were rated underdogs for the Portuguese League Cup clash, ‘Muazzam’ defied all odds to put up a personal five-star show, which helped his side win the game 2-1 and earned him superlatives from leading sports media in the Iberian country.
The former home-based Eagles invitee, who played as both defensive and attacking midfielder in the game, also provided the assist for his team’s opening goal.
Muazzam, who joined newly promoted Nacional after a botched deal with their city rivals, Maritimo, played the entire duration of the Portuguese Cup fixture.
Subsequently, one of Portugal’s leading sports publications, A Bola named ‘Muazzam’ man of the match against Boavista, for helping Nacional progress to the group stage of the League Cup.
‘Muazzam’ was rated 7 out of 10 on his official debut, after the midfielder assisted in his team’s opening goal and proved to be the big difference between the two teams with the way he organised the Nacional midfield.
A Bola wrote about the youngster: “Huge match from the Nigerian midfielder, who at a time was presented at Maritimo. Showed big capacity to read the match that enabled him to always be in control of the ball. Capacity to go up with the ball under pressure.
Another citation for ‘Muazzam’ read in part: “Brain of the team. Perfect passing and wing changing. With an assist and a commanding display throughout the game.
“The midfielder controlled the game with accurate passing, intelligent switch of positions down the wings and orchestrating most of the team’s attacks with his quality on the ball and increasing awareness of the game in Europe.”
On his part, the former Akwa United of Uyo youngster, who last season featured on loan at Austria Wien from FC Hearts, took to Twitter to express his delight.
“Victory for the team against strong opposition, we fought hard and got our first official win! One assist and a good performance for my club @CDNacional. Glory be to God. More to come,” stated ‘Muazzam.’
