Iheanacho Strikes As Nigeria Beat Record Winners Egypt While Sudan, Guinea Bissau Shoot Blanks
12th January 2022
The Super Eagles are in charge of Group D with 3 points after the victory, two ahead of Sudan and Guinea Bissau, who played out to a barren draw later in the day, with Egypt rooted to the bottom
- Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho was on target as Nigeria kicked off their Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a 1-0 victory against Egypt
- Iheanacho struck after 30 minutes to take the Super Eagles to the top of the table after the opening match in Group D, which includes Guinea-Bissau and Sudan
- Meanwhile, in the first of three matches on Tuesday, defending champions Algeria were surprisingly held to a 0-0 Group E draw by minnows Sierra Leone in the Atlantic port city of Douala
Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho was on target as Nigeria kicked off their Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a 1-0 victory against Egypt.
Iheanacho struck after 30 minutes to take the Super Eagles to the top of the table after the opening match in Group D, which includes Guinea-Bissau and Sudan.
The Super Eagles are in charge of Group D with 3 points after the victory, two ahead of Sudan and Guinea Bissau, who played out to a barren draw later in the day, with Egypt rooted to the bottom.
Nigeria fired German coach Gernot Rohr in December after an unimpressive World Cup qualifying campaign and put former national star Augustine Eguavoen in temporary charge.
Eguavoen’s squad was without forwards Victor Osimhen, Emmanuel Dennis and Odion Ighalo for a variety of reasons, but his team did him proud against Mohamed Salah-captained Egypt.
Prolific Liverpool scorer Salah hardly touched the ball and had only one chance, late in the second half, to equalise.
Simon played a major role when the Super Eagles took the lead four minutes later at the 30,000-capacity Stade Roumde Adjia in the northwestern city of Garoua.
His cross was only partially cleared by Ahmed Hegazy and Nigerian Joseph Aribo nodded the ball into the path of Iheanacho who hammered a half-volley past goalkeeper Mohamed Elshenawy.
A far more energetic Nigerian side deserved to be in front against lethargic opponents with Salah starved of possession in 30 degrees celsius (86 fahrenheit) heat.
Salah, sporting a shorter hair style, finally got a scoring chance as the match entered the final quarter, but his close-range prod was blocked by Okoye’s foot and cleared.
Meanwhile, in the first of three matches on Tuesday, defending champions Algeria were surprisingly held to a 0-0 Group E draw by minnows Sierra Leone in the Atlantic port city of Douala.
Yacine Brahimi missed the holders’ best chance early in the second half when he found himself with just the goalkeeper to beat, only for Mohamed Kamara to hold his shot at the second attempt.
The third day of group fixtures saw Sudan and Guinea Bissau play out to a barren draw at the Stade Omnisport Roumdé Adjia.
Pele had the chance to give Guinea Bissau the lead in the 82nd minute from the penalty spot but his weak effort was saved by Abu-Eshrein.