Young Eagles Show Their Talent in Draw Against Russia

Veteran Russian coach Sergei Tashuyev says the young players in the Super Eagles squad were eager to show what they can do in the 3-3 draw with Russia. He mentioned that his team struggled to handle Nigeria's late attack.

The Super Eagles came back from being two goals down in the friendly match at Sovcombank Arena in Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday. Two teenagers played key roles in the equalizer.

Peter Edokpolor came off the bench to score in the 78th minute, making it 3-2. Abdullahi Umar then assisted Akor Adams in stoppage time to level the game.

Kelechi Iheanacho opened the scoring just 10 minutes into the match. Then, Lechi Sadulaev, Matvey Kislyak, and Aleksey Miranchuk scored for Russia, putting them ahead 3-1 with 12 minutes left.

Tashuyev, who previously coached Krasnodar and Akhmat Grozny, told Sport Express that his team played well overall.

“During this training camp, we saw clear signs of the national team’s play, ball control and positional attacks,” he said.

He pointed to a loss of focus as the reason for the collapse. “We lacked concentration at the end. We seemed to be leading by two goals, but we could not contain the onslaught of the young Nigerians. They are not often called up to the Nigerian national team, so they had something to prove,” he said.

Head coach Éric Chelle gave debuts to nine players: Samuel James, Isaac James, Stephen Michael, Wilfred Igor, Chibuzo Nwoko, Vince Osuji, Edokpolor, Abdullahi Umar, and Umar Abubakar.

Nigeria was missing more than six invited players due to injuries, club restrictions, and a residence permit issue.

Russia had warmed up for the game with a 6-0 win over Namibia in Yekaterinburg on Saturday. The draw was a good result for Nigeria after their 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in Bissau.