Never say never! It’s not over until it’s over! Nigerian
football has witnessed some amazing miracles, with the latest being the victory
against Morocco at the recently concluded CHAN. Let’s look at the top three
unbelievable moments in Nigeria’s football history.
Miracle of Dammam
Nigeria faced The Soviet Union
(today’s Russia). The Europeans had a strong team and unsurprisingly went into
the break with a 2-0 lead. The Russians continued controlling the game after the
restart, and added two more goals- the last from Oleg Salenko. It looked like
the Europeans had wrapped up the game and their key players were taken off, but
that proved to be an unwise decision.
In the space of 30 minutes, Nigeria
fought back to equalize 4-4 and take the match into penalty shoot-out.
Christopher Ohenhen, who later played club football at Spanish side
Compostella, started the comeback with a brace- the first a stunning free-kick.
His goals came in the 61st and 75th minutes.
On 83 minutes, Samuel Elijah pushed
Nigeria further, and captain Nduka Ugbade completed the comeback a minute
later. The Russians were stunned beyond their imagination. In the penalties,
Nigeria triumphed 5-3.
Funnily enough, when the USSR scored
their fourth, some people started leaving the stadium, as the other city,
Jeddah, was hosting the big game- Argentina vs. Brazil- and the game was about
to start.
I wonder how shocked they were when
they learnt of the final result.
America Wonder
World champions Brazil were
favourites for Olympic gold in the Atlanta 1996 men's football competition -
with their squad including star names such as Bebeto and Ronaldo.
The Samba stars lined up to face
Nigeria in the semi-finals, a team they had beaten 1-0 in the group stage, and
what happened was one of the greatest matches in Olympic history.
Brazil led 3-1, but with 12 minutes
left, Victor Ikpeba drilled home from 20 yards, before Nigeria skipper Nwankwo
Kanu scrambled the ball into the net in the last minute to send the game to
extra-time.
Kanu then scored his second just
three minutes into extra-time and with the golden goal rule applying, that was
enough to send Nigeria into the final, where they met Argentina.
The Miracle in South Africa
In the most recent of comebacks,
Nigeria came from a 3-0 disadvantage to beat Morocco 4-3.
After half an hour of parity, Morocco took the lead when Moshine Moutaouali chipped over Chigozie Agbim in the 33rd minute.
After half an hour of parity, Morocco took the lead when Moshine Moutaouali chipped over Chigozie Agbim in the 33rd minute.
Iajour doubled Morocco’s advantage
four minutes later with a curling free-kick, and five minutes later, Nigeria
paid for the indiscipline in their defence when Moutaouali was freed from
inside the box and he shot past the Nigeria goalkeeper.
Ugonna Uzochukwu pulled a goal back
four minutes after the break when he toe-poked the ball from the top of the
box.
Rabiu Ali then scored Nigeria’s
second goal on 56 minutes as he smashed home from the edge of the goal area. It
was his third goal of the tournament.
Ejike Uzoenyi completed a remarkable
Nigerian comeback when he struck on the stroke of 90 minutes with a superb shot
from outside the box.
Substitute Aliyu Ibrahim grabbed the
winner for Nigeria in the 11th minute of extra time when he latched on to a
spill by Morocco skipper Nabil Lamyarheri.
Hmm! Of the three, which is your “favorite”
comeback?
