Musa Saves Nigeria As Super Eagles Beat Sudan 3-1

Musa Saves Nigeria As Super Eagles Beat Sudan 3-1

Second-half strikes from Ahmed Musa and Aaron Samuel have saved Nigeria's chances of defending their Afcon crown in 2015.

Under-fire coach Stephen Keshi claimed his side's qualifying campaign was being "sabotaged" ahead of the Group A clash in Abuja, with the African champions bottom of their pool following a 1-0 defeat against Sudan at the weekend.

CSKA Moscow forward Musa opened the scoring three minutes into the second half, but Salah Al Jizoli stunned Nigeria with an equaliser only seven minutes later.

The Super Eagles were not to be denied, though, and Aaron Samuel marked his full debut with a goal to put them back in front before Musa eased the tension with a third goal after 89 minutes.

Neither side really got going in a disappointing first half, but Bakri Abdelgadir - the scorer of Sudan's winner in the reverse fixture - could have put the visitors in front just before the break when he raced into the penalty area and fired wide.

The game came to life in the second half, sparked by a clinical finish from Musa following great work from John Obi Mikel.

Musa raced to the touchline to celebrate with Keshi, but Sudan responded and silenced the crowd as Salah struck from just inside the six-yard box after being picked out by Abdelgadir.

Nigeria knew only a victory would do and Samuel capitalised on a mistake from Akram El Hadi Salim to prod the ball home with his left foot after 66 minutes.

Musa then sealed three precious points when he cut inside and finished with his right foot.

Credit: http://www.goal.com/en-ng/match/nigeria-vs-sudan/1870077/report

Recent Pictures Of Ahmed Musa's Family

Super Eagles of Nigeria's golden boy in yesterday's match against Sudan Ahmed Musa recently shared his family's pictures on the internet.
Sports Triangle brings you some of them. The CSKA Moscow striker is from Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.
See the pictures below:

Ahmed Musa & Son

Ahmed Musa & Wife

Ahmed Musa's Wife

Ahmed Musa & Mum

Source: www.okikiodubiyi.blogspot.com

Keshi Sacked As Nigeria Coach

Keshi Sacked As Nigeria Coach

The Nigeria Football Federation has announced the sack of Stephen Keshi as coach of the Super Eagles early on Thursday morning. 

He will be replaced, alongside his assistants Daniel Amokachi and Ike Shorunmu, by a consortium of local coaches led by former coach Amodu Shaibu who will handle the team’s remaining Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches until a substantive trainer is employed.

Keshi’s job had come under intense scrutiny since the start of the qualifiers in September when the team lost 3-2 to Congo at home before picking one point in a draw against South Africa in Cape Town.

A further defeat in Khartoum to Sudan made his tenure look like coming to an inglorious end after a fairy tale year where he led the Super Eagles to victory at the 2013 Afcon in South Africa.

The title defense in Morocco next year was looking bleak until Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over Sudan in Abuja restored a glimmer of hope.

Keshi had also become embroiled in fights over players with Villareal striker Ikechukwu Uche being accused of wanting to be begged to play for the country. The player has denied all allegations.

However, the new NFF board was not convinced about his abilities and has now relieved him of the job, urging him and his assistants to proceed on any training programme of their choice that would be funded by the federation as a form of gratitude to the “national heroes”.

Their exit means that former national team coach, Shaibu, who has been a part of the NFF in a technical role, will now return to the position for the next tow matches against Congo and South Africa.

Shaibu will be supported by Salisu Yusuf, Gbenga Ogunbote and former goalkeeper Aloysius Agu until a foreign coach is recruited to handle the side.

The team also has a new Coordinator in former international Garba Lawal, while Toyin Ibitoye is the new Media Officer and Godfirst Chike is the new Equipment Manager. Team Secretary, Enebi Achor, is retained.

The communiqué also announced the hiring of Samson Siasia as the U23 trainer. He returns to the side he led to an Olympic silver medal at the games in Beijing in 2008. He will be assisted by Fatai Amoo.

Keshi, 52, led Nigeria to their third African title last year, and became only the second person to win the trophy as a player and coach. He also took the team to the Round of 16 at the World Cup in Brazil as they equalled their best ever run.

He will be remembered for bringing into limelight several unknown players from the local league who have become heroes of the Nigerian game. However, he was also accused of favouritism by taking largely untested players to the World Cup and ignoring more experienced campaigners.