The senior national teams of Cameroon and Nigeria on Tuesday, June 8, played for the second time in less than a week and it ended in a disappointing draw especially for Nigerian football lovers who were left with more questions than answers as the team prepares for AFCON 2021 and FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifications.
The match ended goalless despite Cameroon’s dominance for almost 80 minutes of play.
The Cameroonians somehow did not manage to win this game while the Nigerian team looked bereft of ideas and couldn’t work as a collective unit.
The game played in Austria against Toni Conceicao’s side at Stadion Wiener Neustadt saw Maduka Okoye retain his place in goal while Super Eagles captain and Kano Pillars winger Ahmed Musa returned to the starting line-up.
In form Galatasaray defender Valentine Ozornwafor also led the defence, while Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho and Genk forward Paul Onuachu led the attack.
Following their 1-0 defeat to the Indomitable Lions last week Gernot Rohr named a strong squad for the encounter to avoid another loss.
Meanwhile Cameroon coach Toni Conceicao, started Bayern Munich centre-forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in attack, Devis Epassy in goal, while Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa who scored in the first leg against Nigeria had to be on the bench.
In the early minutes of the game, both sides tried to out manoeuvre each other with Cameroon coming out as the stronger side, dominating most of the first half.
Goalkeeper Okoye had to be in too form to deny Cameroon from scoring.
Seeing that his line up was not working coach Rohr replaced Onuachu with Terem Moffi in the 46th minute while
Cameroon’s Stephane Bahoken replaced Choupo-Moting.
Pierre Kunde was then replaced by Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who scored the only goal in the first outing.
The Super Eagles still couldn’t create any clear cut chances and had to wait till the last ten minutes when the Cameroonians were clearly tired, for them to make meaningful forays in attack, at the end the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
The Super Eagles will next take on Mexico in another international friendly scheduled for July 4 as they prepare for the World Cup qualifiers against Liberia and Cape Verde Islands in August and September, respectively.