Ex-Super Eagles’ striker, Victor Okechukwu Agali has heaped praises on the team for putting up a brilliant performance against Brazil on Sunday, with a view that the 1-1 draw they were forced to in Singapore confirms that Nigeria has a rich pool of talent to bring glory to the country in lots of years to come.
Megasportsarena.com gathered that, while admitting he is happy to be part of the evolving quality, in his capacity as chief scout for Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr, Agali added that expects ever better performances from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations bronze medalists.
The leggy attacker, who made a knack of scoring with his head during his heyday, added that Sunday’s result was a huge confidence booster for the Eagles’ upcoming matches in the AFCON 2021 qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho next month, as it was a huge improvement from Nigeria’s 3-0 loss to The Samba Boys during a friendly at home in Abuja in June 2003.
In contrast with that encounter 16 years ago at what is now Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, Agali reasoned that Sunday’s fray was a more balanced affair, which saw both sides give good accounts of themselves, much to the delight of the fans.
He admitted he equally loved the run of play, which saw the Eagles go up first, before the Brazilians equalized in the second half, which he said made him proud to be a Nigerian and reasoned further that it could have been a better result had some key players not been missing in the three-time African champions’ squad for the encounter in Singapore.
Agali declared: “It was an exciting match, a good game that made me proud to be a Nigeria. It was a game of good football from both sides. I am impressed with how we played, though some of our regular players were not present. We learnt a lot from that game. I must says it’s been fun, good for me, working with this team.”