Happiness rents the air in most parts of Nigeria on Friday as the country’s national men’s football team Super Eagles thrashed their European opponents Iceland by two goals in their second match at the ongoing FIFA World Cup soccer’s in Russia.
The high intensity game, which
started on a sloppy and uninspiring note for the Nigeria side coached by Gernot
Rhor, a German, suddenly throttled into life in the 49th minute when pacy
forward Ahmed Musa latched onto a sleeky cross from compatriot, Victor Moses,
before powerfully riffling it into the top of the net.
The Super Eagles, with the support of
their colourful supporters, soon took total control of the game. By the 75th
minute when Musa’s brilliant run into the Iceland defence gave the team a two goal
lead, excitement had tripled over, with fans in many parts of the country
especially at football viewing centres going totally wild.
By the time the referee sounded his
final whistle, the streets of Lagos and other major cities across the country
burst into life. The social media was not left out, too, as citizens including
celebrities relished the victory in various ways.
When one of our correspondents
visited a popular viewing centre and relaxation spot at the Arepo area of Ogun
State shortly after the match, manager of the place, who identified himself as
Tajudeen Akanni, was seen supervising the slaughtering of a goat to be used for
pepper soup. The excited man revealed that all the stocks had been consumed
after the Eagles’ victory, forcing them to quickly organise more for many of
their customers, who kept trooping to the place to celebrate with their
friends.
“We believed that we were going to
defeat Iceland, so we prepared very well by putting things that would excite
customers in place ahead of the match on Friday.
“Immediately after Nigeria won that
game, our centre became like a carnival spot. Excited fans consumed almost
everything we had stocked for the day to the extent that we had to quickly
order for more drinks.
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