Peru Beat Nigeria 1-0

The senior national team of Peru this morning defeated Nigeria’s Super Eagles 1-0 in an international friendly tie played at the Estadio Nacional in Lima, Peru.

The clash started on a low with both teams sizing up each other but the Peruvians were more ambitious as they put together short and precise passes against the Coach Steven Keshi-led Nigerian side, who were unable to knit their passes together.

J.P. Guerrero got the curtain raiser in the 37th minute of the first half, while the Peruvians made several incursions into the vital area of the Eagles.

Despite the effort of the hosts, captain and goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim was the saving grace for the Eagles as he denied Peru more goals in the encounter.

With a goal down, the Eagles woke up from their slumber and went in search of the leveler but they could not break into the opponents rear.

The scoreline remained 1-0 when the centre referee from Ecuador, José Luis Es ended the first half.

At the resumption of the second half, Keshi introduced Nnamdi Oduamadi and Obinna Nwankwo and the players brought sanity into the shaky midfield of the Nigerian team. Oduamadi however became a nightmare for the Peruvians as he made some dazzling runs and sent dangerous passes to Azu Azuka, who spearheaded the attack, but the striker failed to convert the chances.

While Oduamadi was mesmerizing from the left flank, Enyimba’s Kalu Uche also took the game to the Peruvians from the right, giving their left back a run for his money, but his blistering pace did not change the result.

The game later became physical with players of both teams hitting themselves hard. As hostilities progressed the hosts stayed back to protect their lone goal and tried some counter runs, but Agbim was in charge of his goal post.

The last quarter of the keenly contested encounter was played in the half of the Peruvians as the Nigerians came out in search of an equaliser, which they never had until the tie came to an end.

With the outcome of the tie, Coach Keshi has lost his second match in charge of the Eagles, having suffered a 3-2 defeat to Egypt in an earlier international friendly match played in Qatar.

By Adebobola Alawode