It was an evening of excitement, suspense and entertainment. It was an evening when two giants of African football slugged it out for supremacy and in the end, the Super Eagles did not disappoint as Moses ensured that the Pharaohs led by Mohamed Salah who was a shadow of himself drown in the sea of Garaou in their opening game of both giants of AFCON 2021.
The match lived up to the hype of what was expected from both teams that have ten titles between them but ended in favour of the Super Eagles beating the most successful side in the competition 1-0.
Kelechi Iheanacho’s fine strike in the 30th minute proved the decider of the keenly contested tie and earned him the Man of the Match award. However, The Nantes of France winger, Simon Moses was a threat all through the game with his explosive pace. His run and cross led to Iheanacho’s goal.
After a dominant first half, Nigeria continued where they left off in the second half confining the Egyptians to their half and Taiwo Awoniyi seeing the woodwork in the process.
The Egyptians never really looked like they were going to hurt Austin Eguavoen’s side and will now hope to get their campaign running in their next match against Guinea Bissau.
Chidera Ejuke, Sodiq Umar, Kelechi Nwakali, Semi Ajayi and Alex Iwobi came on as substitutes for Samuel Chukwueze, Taiwo Awoniyi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Moses Simon respectively.
Nigeria’s next game is against Sudan on Saturday.
