Nigeria’s Flying Eagles suffered a 1-0 defeat against Rwanda in a friendly today at the State Regional in Kigali.
It was an 85th decider after France-based striker Bon-Fils Kabanda’s goal made the difference between the two African sides.
The Flying Eagles had so many scoring chances from the blow of the whistle in the first half could make it count for them before Kabanda had the opportunity to notch up Rwanda.
At the beginning of the match, Rwanda showed some flashes when Charles Tibingana coming close to getting the opening goal for the home team with a header from inside the box which narrowly missed its mark.
And immediately Nigeria retaliated with Chidi Osuchukwu’s shot which screamed wide and minutes later striker Alhaji Gero’s effort was deflected for a corner kick.
Osuchukwu then carved out one of the best chances of the day in the 42nd minute.
His left-footed shot from inside the box was scrambled by Rwanda goalkeeper Olivier Kwizera for a corner kick.
Both Gero and right-back Shehu Abdullahi also saw their efforts failing to hit target in the dying moments of the first half.
With the Second beginning, Aminu Umar’s shot from an acute angle crashed against the side netting as Nigeria dictated the pace.
They had introduced several of their top players like Aliyu Mohammed, Uche Agbo, Jonah Usman, Harrison Egbune, Hassan Abubakar and Yahaya Adamu.
In the 63rd minute of the match, Emmanuel Sebanani ought to have put Rwanda ahead but he wasted the chance from a very big opening.
Agbo also threatened the Rwanda goal at least twice and, in between, substitute goalkeeper Usman saved a goal-bound header by Rwanda.
The match was played at the same stadium the Super Eagles held the Rwandan senior national team to a goalless draw late in February in a 2013 African Nations Cup qualifier.
The Rwandan junior side, which recently defeated Tanzania twice away from home, are billed to host Mali in a 2013 AYC qualifier the same weekend Nigeria face the Ngorogoro Stars of Tanzania.
In a post-match interview, Coach John Obuh said he will not be bothered with the score line of the game although he admitted that it was a good game even though a draw would have made more sense.
He said the real purpose of the prep game is not to lose focus ahead of the real game which is the qualifiers against Tanzania come Sunday in Tanzania and good enough he has taken on some corrections ahead of the game in Dar Es Salam.
