Watching Saturday’s match between our very own Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, for the quarterfinals position at the 2019 AFCON championship happening in Egypt, was a roller coaster experience.
One minute the Super Eagles of Nigeria were the darlings of the game; the next thing we know the Indomitable Lions were literally playing ball with our destiny. Two goals (an equaliser by Stéphane Bahoken, and the goal by Clinton Njie that gave Cameroon the advantage) close to the end of the first half, and all done in three minutes, had the Lions feeling indomitable.
However, the Super Eagles said they weren’t done soaring. Their comeback in the second half is what the Spanish call clasico. At the 63rd minute, Ahmed Musa chested down a cross to Ighalo who scored his second goal of the game, an equaliser, to bring the game to 2-2.
The Eagles would go on to give the Lions a taste of their own medicine when Alex Iwobi, assisted by Ighalo at the 66th minute (three minutes after Ighalo’s equaliser), slotted home the third goal to give Nigeria a 3-2 lead against the Cameroonians.
Throughout the game, fans of the Super Eagles at the This Is Naija (TIN) fan park at the Discovery Park in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, exhibited an unwavering loyalty to the Eagles and their country, and were in the end rewarded with an impressive comeback.
The Super Eagles proved to us and the entire world that the resilient Nigerian spirit is still alive and no myth. The Eagles dominated the Lions.