The Super Eagles went down 1-0 to Czech Republic in their final pre-World Cup
friendly game staged at the Rudolf Tonn Stadium, Austria on Wednesday.
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Czech dealt the only blow of the game in the 25th minute when Tomas Kalas shot home a rebound Francis Uzoho thought he had saved to give the European side the lead. After the loss to England last week, Coach Rohr made changes to the team that should have helped the Eagles do better against Czech – John Ogu and Wilfred Ndidi replaced Joel Obi and Ogenyi Onazi in the starting XI.
Six minutes into the game, the Super Eagles all-but took the lead, only for Victor Moses to see his well taken goal-bound cross make its way into Tomas Vaclih’s hand. The first half of the game saw the Nigerian side play a rat-race which they eventually lost when Czech took the lead in the 25th minute. Still, the Super Eagles almost leveled up the score three minutes later, but John Ogu did not properly convert a corner.
At the half hour mark, Czech had another great chance to double their lead after a ball-squabble completely opened up Nigeria’s defense only for Marek Suchy’s shot to go over the bar. In the 36th minute, Wilfred Ndidi came close for Nigeria but the Czech keeper punched it into corner.
Due to heavy rain the match had to be stopped in the 60th minute.
Ten minutes later, the players were back on the pitch with the Nigerian side now making the calls seeking an opportunity to equalize but the Czech keeper proved his skills formidable in stopping every goal-bound shot that came his way.
The Super Eagles will start their World Cup campaign in Russia with a
Group game against Croatia on June 16.
