Zarki bails out Nigeria *No clear qualifier in Group B
A visibly scared Flying Eagles coach, Godwin Uwua brought in more attackers in the last quarter of the game, and sent his defenders to the bench before an enterprising Emmanuel Zarki of Belgium Club- Westerloo registered the equalizer in the 76th minute.
The first half was partly dominated by the Nigerians mid way to the end of the half, but they failed to make a decent play despite several goal scoring openings that came their way.
Egypt also wasted early chances in the game, with Mustapha Salaad, who eventual scored their lone goal in the 48th minute being main culprit. The man of the match had collected a pass on the edge of Nigerian 18” before curing it to the far corner beating Olufemi Thomas, who had helped Nigeria escape such point blank shots previously.
The equalizer by Zarki, who substituted Ayodeji Brown, was enough to bolster the young Eagles attack as they poured out in torrent searching for the winner. The duo of Nduka Ozokor and Bala Joseph, both substitutes complemented Zarki but no goal was scored till the referee stopped the match minutes away from the official time as indicted by the reserved referee.
Zarki told africansportsdigest.com at the end of the match that he is happy to give Nigeria the lone goal and a point, which still make them the group leaders ahead of Egypt with superior two goals difference.
“We made mistakes in the defence which almost cost us the match. It was bad for the team. I am happy we were able to salvage the situation and came back to secure a point. I do pray we block those suspect areas before our last match to ensure our qualification, that’s our goal here now,” he added.
The next games in Group B will be played on Friday. In Group A Gambia having won their two games are already in the second round.