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September 05, 2005
Gallant Eagles beat Algeria 5
The Super Eagles earned themselves a World Cup lifeline on Sunday as they defeated Algeria 5-2 in Oran to at least halt Angola's celebrations.
Josiah Oluwole, Oran
Angola had opened a three-point gap at the top of the group after expectedly defeating Gabon 3-0 in Luanda a few hours before the Oran game.
A loss for Nigeria would have seen Angola progressing to their first World Cup.
The Nigeria team started the match without Austin Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Garba Lawal, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Seyi Olofinjana but they went into the break with a 2-0 lead through an Obafemi Martins penalty in the 20th minute and a John Utaka header in the 39th minute.
Algeria rallied back early in the second half with two goals within 11 minutes through Hamza Yacef and Mansour Boutabout. But it was the Eagles who ended the match stronger.
Both teams lost a player each to red card - Nigeria's Utaka and Algeria's Karin Ziani - but it was the hosts who felt the effect more as the Eagles came on stronger late into the match to wrap up their first win on Algerian soil.
Kazeem Atanda Ayila, making his first Eagles start, scored Nigeria's third goal after good work from substitute Nwankwo Kanu, while Martins added his second to make it 4-2 before Christian Obodo completed the rout on the dot of full time.
The PUNCH, Monday, September 5, 2005
Posted by Publisher at September 5, 2005 12:51 PM
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