We Had Dinner with Mambas!
Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen celebrates scoring their third goal with Ademola Lookman/ Reuters
Written by Chukwu C. Ikechukwu
I had mentioned in an earlier post that the Super Eagles would be characterised by the Eagle taking the Mambas off the ground level and leaving them to crash fatally to the ground and out of AFCON 2025. However, I didn’t envisage the Super Eagles making mincemeat of the Mambas. Oh! What a delicacy it was!
From the blast of the whistle from the Cameroonian centre referee, the Super Eagles left no one in doubt that they meant business.
The Super Eagles’ superlative performance paid off in the 20th minute with Ademola Lookman’s goal. Hardly had the euphoria died down before the Mambas from Mozambique were caught napping in the 25th minute with Victor Osimhen’s clinical finishing to put the Nigerian side 2 goals ahead. The Super Eagles continued their impressive performance, characterised by accurate passes and clinical interceptions of the ball, which kept the Mambas in check until halftime.
Returning from the locker room with an apparent hunger and perhaps instructions from Eric Chelle and his technical crew, Osimhen could hardly wait for the half to settle in before he tapped in Ademola Lookman’s fine pass to make it 3 for Nigeria in the 47th minute, just two minutes from the dressing room.
Not done with or satisfied with the number of goals, the Super Eagles continued to display class with their ball control, passes, defence and attack until the 75th minute when Akor Adams’ fantastic display was rewarded with a classic goal that the keeper had no answers for. With four goals in the bag, the Super Eagles became the first team to score four goals in AFCON 2025.
The Eagles continued mounting pressure and looked good to score more goals until the final blast of the whistle, which was indeed a relief to the Mambas as they would have probably conceded more goals. Viva Super Eagles, you have soared into the quarter finals with a convincing 4-0 win. The venom from the Mambas meant nothing!! The meat from the fleshy reptiles was properly spiced.
