Peseiro Starts 0-2 But Team is Lively Against Ecuador

Harrison, NJ: ....Nigeria 0 Ecuador 1


















___________  THE GAME _______________

Nigeria's best player on the day was Bassey and her nearly ended it with an assist if Dennis had taken his chance well in that second half. Clearly, Bassey brings a lot of energy, confidence, and intuition to the game.  Iwobi dominated the opening half with relentless running and was present both defensively and going forward but appeared to tire late.

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Clearly, Bassey brings a lot of energy, confidence, and intuition to the game.  Iwobi dominated the opening half with relentless running and was present both defensively and going forward but appeared to tire late.

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Nigeria had a good shift but was let down by conceding a very early goal from a freekick cross that the defense failed to stave off and Uzoho was at the mercy if a lurking Ecuador player who put the ball away from close.

Nigeria had not been able to go past the halfway line until more than five minutes of the game had gone and by then it was 0-1. However, when Nigeria came on, it looked like they would at least get a tie from this international friendly with Alex Iwobi confidently bossing the middle with tireless work. It was nice to see Nigeria give the homebased lad Sani Faisal a start and he did earn his keep with some good work on the right until he tired out towards the end of the opening half.  I suspect that he was taken off on a scheduled substitution given that the Manager may have preferred that Dennis start from the bench due to his late arrival to join the team in the United States and maybe Faisal had done well in training. In this game, he showed up well early o the right of the midfield.

LINE-UP

Francis Uzoho (23)21 — Chiedozie Awaziem (20)29, (46th Ola Aina (2)), William Troost-Ekong (cpt-5)62, Semi Ajayi (6)19, Calvin Bassey (18)3 -- Moses Simon (15)51, Joseph Aribo (10)19, Sanni Faisal (7)2 (46th  Dennis Bournaventure  (8)) -- Alex Iwobi (18)57 – Cyriel Dessers (9)3, Terem Moffi (19)5 (85th Victor  Chukwuma Mbaoma (12)2).


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