Portugal thrash abysmal Super Eagles in World Cup warm-up
Portugal defeated the Nigerian Super Eagles 4-0 on Thursday in a friendly match as part of their warm-up ahead of the Qatar World Cup.
The Portuguese are competing in Group H against Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea.
The match played at the José Alvalade stadium in Lisbon saw Nigeria outmatched as they were repeatedly split open by the Euro 2016 champions, handing Jose Peseiro a bitter return to his homeland.
After just nine minutes of play, Portugal took the lead, thanks to the tremendous attacking prowess of Bruno Fernandes, Andre Silva, Joao Felix, and Bernardo Silva.
With a quick slalom run that brought him to the byline, Diogo Dalot attacked the Nigerian defence. The Eagles’ defenders gave him enough time to find Fernandes on the edge of the box, where he slid the ball past Francis Uzoho.
The Portuguese team kept control of the game and created plenty of opportunities, so it was not unexpected when they scored their second goal.
A cross from Bernardo bounced off Eagles rookie Bright Osayi-Samuel’s arm. Fernandes kicked the subsequent penalty kick into the bottom corner after the referee pointed to the penalty spot.
Up until the introduction of Samuel Chukwueze and Paul Onuachu following halftime, Nigeria remained silent.
Osayi-Samuel corrected his earlier error and earned a penalty for Nigeria, but the Eagles were unable to take advantage with Dennis Emmanuel failing to convert.
After that, Portugal regained control of the match and sealed the victory with two goals from Gonçalo Ramos and Jaoa Mario.
As a result, Peseiro has now lost four out of his last seven matches in charge of Nigeria. Algeria, Mexico, and Ecuador were the first three opponents that the team lost to.
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
Sport
Goals rain as Arsenal demolish miserable Chelsea to keep title hope alive
The Gunners easily tore through Chelsea’s defence line, scoring 5 to set a new record against London rival.
Politics
Ganduje lauds Ododo for ‘good job’ in Ondo APC governorship primary
Mr Ganduje gave the commendation when he received the state governorship primary election committee report from Mr Ododo in Abuja on Tuesday.
States
Fire guts office of Governor Soludo’s aide
A part of the office of the special adviser to Anambra governor on political matters, Alex Obiogbolu, was gutted by fire on Tuesday.
States
Nasarawa lawmakers summon AEDC, NAePA over persistent power outage, estimated bills
The members lamented the blackout and overbilling, supporting the need to summon the managements of AEDC and NAePA.
Anti-Corruption
N80.2 Billion Fraud: Kogi Assembly asks EFCC to remove Yahaya Bello’s name from wanted list
Kogi Assembly called on the commission to remove the “WANTED” tag around Mr Bello’s name and person.
States
Scores of terrorists killed in Zamfara, Katsina: Nigerian Army
The army said the troops responded to a distress call on the attack of some farmers by terrorists along the Gidan Shaho road in Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara.
