SUPER EAGLE JOE SOARS
Ger Aribo strikes to give Samba stars a real shock
JOE ARIBO became the new darling of Nigerian football as he stunned Copa America champs Brazil in Singapore.
Aribo fired the Super Eagles in front and although Casemiro levelled, it was another night to forget for the Samba stars.
Neymar went off injured after only 12 minutes, clutching the back of his left thigh. The draw extended Brazil’s winless run to four games but Nigerian fans purred over Aribo as he got his second goal in two games.
The Rangers midfielder struck in the 35th minute.
Victor Osimhen’s cross from the right was overhit but Simone Moses recovered it and found Aribo on the edge of the box.
He skipped by his man before turning past PSG defender Marquinhos and drilling a low finish into the net. Brazil equalised three minutes into the second half when Casemiro fired home from close range after he was quickest to react when a Marquinhos header came back off the woodwork.
Casemiro later smacked a header off the bar and Philippe Coutinho should have scored with five minutes remaining but the score remained level.
Since lifting the Copa America in July, Brazil have also drawn with Colombia and Senegal and lost to Peru in a miserable run. Scorer Casemiro admitted the result was not what his side had wanted.
The Real Madrid star said: “When it comes to Brazil, we always want to seek the victory.
‘’But within what we were presenting, the answer was very good. The second half was good, against a physically strong team.
‘’The result is not good, but there is no doubt that the second half was good from us so we have to accept that and move on from here .’’
Nigerian midfielder Wilfred Ndidi said: “That was a good game for us and a fair result against one of the best teams in the world.”
● Argentina rested a host of big names but still thrashed Ecuador 6-1 in Elche. Paulo Dybala, Angel Correa and Marcos Rojo sat this one out while Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria were not part of the squad. Lucas Alario, Leandro Paredes and a Jhon Espinoza own goal put Argentina 3-0 up at the break. Although Angel Mena pulled one back German Pezzella, Nicolas Dominguez and Lucas Ocampos completed the rout for Argentina.