The Nigerian national team fell at the feet of the Mali national team in an international friendly last night. The Stade De Marrakech witnessed a 2-0 loss for Nigeria courtesy of a goal in each half for the eagles of Mali.
The first half saw a passing clinic from Nigeria as they tried to ease into the game, but without any clinical edge as they could barely get their opposition goalkeeper to make any credible save.
The super eagles tried playing out from the back and were met by an aggressive press from their opposition, one where Raphael Onyedika was forced to giveaway possession to Mali, leaving El Bilal Toure with a simple header to score past Stanley Nwabali.
The first half had one more unfortunate twist for Nigeria as Moses Simon had to be substituted due to an injury, and he was replaced by Cyril Dessers.
The second half was more missed chances for Nigeria, with Kelechi Iheanacho and Cyril Dessers unable to convert their opportunities to equalize proceedings. The super eagles were made to rue those missed chances as Kamory Doumbia found the top corner with his finish, after the Nigerian defence was caught slipping for a second time.
Interim coach, Finidi George now has a win and a loss in his two games in charge of the team. The super eagles now look forward to the next international period in June, when they take on South Africa in a world cup qualifiers, and are hopeful of having a full time coach by then.
