Former Nigeria international Garba Lawal has described Monday’s 1-1 draw between the Super Eagles and Cameroon in the second leg of their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers double-header in Yaoundé as fantastic, Completesportsnigeria.com reports.
The Eagles took the lead late in the first half through Moses Simon before substitute Vincent Aboubakar equalised for Cameroon in the second half from the penalty spot.
The draw took the Eagles to 10 points with two games left while Cameroon are on three points and are out of the race to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Reflecting on the hard-fought draw, Lawal hailed the Super Eagles for standing firm despite being under heavy pressure from the hosts.
“It was a fantastic result for the Eagles, four games 10 points,” Lawal who represented Nigeria at France 1998 and Korea/Japan 2002 World Cups told Completesportsnigeria.com.
“Cameroon were playing for pride, but we scored first and with less than 15 minutes left, they were all over us. But thank God our boys contained them.
“Three points would have been okay, but at least we did not lose the game. Like I said, the draw was a fantastic result for us.”
Lawal however stated that the Eagles failed to maintain their first half discipline which saw them struggle in the closing stage of the game.
He said:”We should have maintained our discipline from the first half which would have been much better. In football discipline is very important.
“We shouldn’t have allowed them dictate the play towards the end because it brought pressure on our defence. We should have held on to the ball more. But all the same, it is a job well done by the players.”
The Eagles next game is at home against Zambia on October 7, 2017.
The draw took the Eagles to 10 points with two games left while Cameroon are on three points and are out of the race to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Reflecting on the hard-fought draw, Lawal hailed the Super Eagles for standing firm despite being under heavy pressure from the hosts.
“It was a fantastic result for the Eagles, four games 10 points,” Lawal who represented Nigeria at France 1998 and Korea/Japan 2002 World Cups told Completesportsnigeria.com.
“Three points would have been okay, but at least we did not lose the game. Like I said, the draw was a fantastic result for us.”
Lawal however stated that the Eagles failed to maintain their first half discipline which saw them struggle in the closing stage of the game.
He said:”We should have maintained our discipline from the first half which would have been much better. In football discipline is very important.
“We shouldn’t have allowed them dictate the play towards the end because it brought pressure on our defence. We should have held on to the ball more. But all the same, it is a job well done by the players.”
The Eagles next game is at home against Zambia on October 7, 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment