The Super Eagles came out of two straight warm up games during the recent FIFA window, looking like a team ready for the rigours of competing in a big tournament like the African Cup of Nations.
The Nigerian team had the opportunity to try the Green Falcons of Saudi Arabia and the Mambas of Mozambique for size as they tried to get themselves tuned up for the AFCON tournament scheduled to hold in Cote D'Ivoire early next year.
The Eagles were forced to a 2-2 draw late in their game with the Saudis last Friday before going on to beat Mozambique 3-2 at the same venue in Portugal on Monday night.
The win over Mozambique was the first for the Eagles in four years after coming short in 15 of such friendlies.
The Eagles had last won a competitive warm up game when they beat the Pharaohs of Egypt in 2019.
Ever since, they have failed to follow up on that performance, losing 7 and drawing 8 of such matches to paint an ugly picture of their journey during the usual FIFA window in that time.
But the win on Monday now changes that narrative as goals from the boots of Terem Moffi, Frank Onyeka and Simon Moses gave Nigeria a 3-2 win.
This is despite the fact that names like Taiwo Awoniyi, Victor Osimhen and Kelechi Iheanacho were not present at different times during the two-match tour in Portugal.
Awoniyi had not even made the trip, being indisposed due to injury. But new boy, Victor Boniface would ensure he was not missed as he scored one of the two goals that provoked a response from the game they ended up drawing with the Saudis.
But Osimhen and Iheanacho, who were present in the first game had been unavailable for the second game which they won!
But the fact that they still won without these big name forwards showed the strength in depth of the team's attack and it is expected it would count for something when the team gets into its full element during the Nation's Cup in Ivory Coast soon.
However, the Eagles showed traces of their old selves as they frequently made the kind of mistakes that often cost them dear.
The Nigerians showed a better quality in attack against an oil rich Saudi Arabia, scoring two unreplied goals and looking like they were in the frame to run away with a straight win.
But loss of concentration, a trait now quite preponderant with the team in recent years, would again rear it's ugly head as a door was opened for the Arabs to get back in the game, scoring two late goals to end the match 2-2.
The same mistakes did manifest late on in the game against Mozambique as the Eagles almost squandered a 3-goal lead.
Goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho -- the chief culprit of the night -- had failed to deal with a situation that allowed Faisal Abdul-Bangal to score a second goal for the Mambas, thus putting the team under needless pressure towards the end of the game.
Anxious fans watching the game back home were once again put through an emotional wringer that was avoidable as the Eagles again manifested their weakness.
Keen analysts fear the worst in situations where the Eagles face tougher teams who may not hesitate to punish such weaknesses in crucial games in big tournaments such as the African Cup of Nations. Some of the fans have therefore tasked the team's manager, Jose Peseiro on the need to check these persistent errors that makes the Eagles so vulnerable, especially at the rear and do something urgent to fix it fast.
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