“The match ended scoreless but I can tell you that the NFF is happy with the output of the players and it was well worth the effort to arrange this game,” NFF President Aminu Maigari said in Atlanta, minutes after the game that ended 0-0 but saw the nearly 70,000 crowd applaud both teams into the dressing room. Maigari was especially delighted with the performance of new boys Michael Uchebo, Leon Balogun, Imoh Ezekiel and Ramon Azeez in the prestige encounter.
“The new players did not show any stage fright, and the old guard provided them with the confidence necessary to stand up to the Mexicans. We must remember that Mexico is one of the strongest teams in the world, and our ability to stand up to them on a neutral soil means we are gradually getting into the form for the FIFA World Cup finals,” Maigari added.
The Eagles next play Scotland in London on May 28 before flying to Philadephia for the first of two friendly matches in America, with the second coming up in Jacksonville few days to the team’s departure to the 20th FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil.
In Brazil, the Super Eagles will stay at the Vitoria Hotel Concept in Campinas, 70 minutes’ drive from Sao Paulo International Airport, and play Iran in Curitiba on June 16, Bosnia-Herzegovina in Cuiaba on June 21 and Argentina in Porto Alegre on June 25 – exactly 20 years to the day Nigeria and Argentina first squared up at the biggest stage, in Boston, United States of America.
By Ademola Olajire
