Iheanacho rues S’Arabia draw

Nigerian national team forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, expressed disappointment over Nigeria’s 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia in an international friendly at the Estádio Municipal de Portimão on Friday.

Iheanacho began the match on the bench, as head coach Jose Peseiro chose to have Victor Boniface and Victor Osimhen leading the Eagles’ attack. Despite Nigeria creating the better opportunities in the first half, they found themselves trailing by a goal five minutes after the hour mark after Iheanacho was brought on as a substitute for Samuel Chukwueze.

The Eagles conceded a goal against the run of play when goalkeeper Francis Uzoho mishandled Salman Al Faraj’s direct free-kick from the left flank. In the 73rd minute, Nigeria celebrated an equalizer through an own goal by Abdulelah Al Amri, and then Iheanacho, with a brilliant left-footed shot from the edge of the box in the 81st minute, put Nigeria ahead 2-1.

Unfortunately, Nigeria couldn’t maintain their lead, as Saudi Arabia secured a share of the points with Mohamed Kanno’s deflected free-kick deep into stoppage time.

This draw extends Nigeria’s winless streak in friendly matches to 15 games, a disappointing run that dates back to 2019. It also ended the Eagles’ three-game winning streak in all competitions, which included victories against Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Following the match, Iheanacho posted on social media, saying, “Not the result we wanted. We learn and focus on the next game.”

Nigeria is set to face Mozambique in another international friendly in Portugal on Monday.

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