George Ilenikhena
The Super Eagles have made a winning start to their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, coming from behind to beat Madagascar 2-1 in Uyo Friday.
It was a day for the debutants in the Green and White jersey. Nigeria fell behind in the first half after Clément Couturier put Madagascar ahead in the 16th minute, heading home from Ryan Ponti’s cross.
Eric Chelle’s side responded before the break through George Ilenikhena, tapping home from Alex Iwobi’s brilliant pass.
Moses Usor then completed Nigeria’s turnaround in the 65th minute. The LASK forward, freshly off the bench, took the ball from Nigeria’s half, beating two players before wrong-footing Madagascar’s Georgian Dupire.
The Super Eagles started brightly but found Madagascar difficult to break down, with the visitors eventually taking the lead through Couturier.
The early moments were grim for the home boys as the presence of just two midfielders was evident, but Samuel Chukwueze provided a bright spark, dribbling past the opponents, but nothing solid came from the 27-year-old’s footwork.
The Eric Chelle lads continued to push for a response and came close on several occasions, with Ilenikhena particularly involved in the attack.
The Al-Ittihad striker had an effort saved by Madagascar goalkeeper Geordan Dupire after being played in by Calvin Bassey, before heading another chance over the bar from Samuel Chukwueze’s cross.
Nigeria’s pressure finally paid off in first-half stoppage time. Alex Iwobi found Ilenikhena inside the box, and the young striker made no mistake, placing his effort into the bottom-left corner to restore parity at 1-1.
