Pinnick, 33, Amstel Malta hail Eagles’ dominance of Qatar 2022 Group C
NIGERIA Football Federation ( NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick, and two of the top sponsors of the Super Eagles, 33 Extra Lager Beer and Amstel Malta have commended the senior national team for consolidating on their leadership of Group C of the Qatar 2022 World Cup African qualifying series.
The Eagles, on Tuesday, defeated Cape Verde 2- 1 away from home in Mindelo for its second win in as many matches.
Victory shot the Eagles to six points, three more than second– placed Liberia, with Cape Verde and Central African Republic stuck at the bottom of the table, with one point each.
“That was what I call a fighting performance. That is the universally – acknowledged ‘ Nigerian spirit’. That is the attitude of champions. The pitch was not the best; the weather was not the ideal, but they remained focused on the big picture and eked a win that guaranteed all the points. Six maximum points from two matches is something to celebrate, Pinnick said.
Pinnick particularly noted that the absence of UK– based players ( due to the British Government’s insistence that persons who travel to Cape Verde – which is on their red mark – must quarantine for 10 days on return to the UK) afforded the technical crew opportunity to test a number of new blood and ascertain their readiness for the big time.
Victor Osimhen brought Nigeria to parity after profiting from a defensive howler, 10 minutes after the hosts had taken the lead with a ferocious shot by Dylan dos Santos Tavares that screamed past the flailing hands of goalkeeper Maduka Okoye.
With 15 minutes to go, Kenny Santos Rocha spectacularly lobbed the ball over his goalkeeper Vozinha when attempting a backpass for Nigeria’s winning goal.
Also thrilled by Eagles’ feat on Tuesday, the official beverages of the team, 33 Export Lager Beer and Amstel Malta Ultra respectively said the team played as true champions.