Football enthusiasts in Aba have lauded the Super Eagles over their 2-1 win against their arch rivals, Black Stars of Ghana, in an international friendly on Friday.

The Super Eagles win in the Friday’s friendly is the first of its kind since 2006.

The match was played inside the Marrakesh Stadium in Morocco and the first after the 2023 AFCON in Cote D’iVoire where the Eagles finished runners-up behind the host.

Some enthusiasts who spoke during an interview on Saturday hailed the players and the technical team, led by former Super Eagles players, Finidi George, for their good job.

Coach Godwin Uduma of United Football Academy congratulated the Super Eagles and urged them to improve on their performance in their next outing against the Eagles of Mali.

He said, “This is a good beginning since after the African Cup of Nation in Cote D’iVoire and it is good to see the team perform well under an indigenous coach, Finidi George.’’

He advised the technical team to always watch NPFL matches to discover home-based players as such would help to improve the country’s league.

A fan, Ikechukwu Okorie said the win made football lovers in the country proud as the team had not overcome Ghana’s senior team for years and believed such would continue.

He added, “Well, this is a friendly match and for me much is not being put into it but it shows that the Eagles have much to offer. I pray Eagles will replicate this feat in qualifiers and big tournaments such as the African Cup of Nations, World Cup and others.”

Ijeoma Ofoegbu said that the team still had much to do because they missed a lot of scoring chances.

She noted that the team could do well under Finidi but doubted the ability of the coach to sustain discipline among the players.

Ms Ofoegbu urged the Nigeria Football Federation to hire an indigenous coach this time round and surround him with experienced local coaches as well.

Another fan, Chidiebere Ogbu,  said he could not rate the team with the match against Ghana but would do so after their match against Mali.

Mr Ogbu said that the match against Mali would be a tough one and urged the team to up their performance antic to ensure a win.

“I will only rate the Eagles after the match against Mali, the only outcome of the two friendlies that will give an insight into what to expect after coach Jose Pesiero,” he said.

The Eagles will on Tuesday file out against Mali at the Marrakesh stadium in the last match of their scheduled two friendlies.

(NAN)