It took yet another inspiration from Nwankwo Kanu for the Super Eagles to subdue the Crocodiles of Lesotho 2-0 in a Ghana 2008 Nations Cup qualifier at the Warri Stadium on Saturday.
It was the Super Eagles' last match of the Ghana 2008 African Nations Cup qualifying series.
Ikechukwu, the younger brother of former Super Eagles midfielder, Kalu Uche, came on for Italy-based Ayodele Makinwa in the early minutes of the second half and immediately showed why he is such a hot shot in Spain.
The puddle in Lesotho's goal line stopped what would have been his first goal of the match after the youngster had dribbled his way round the goalkeeper in his first foray into the opposing defence.
But he would not be denied for long.
Shortly after returnee Eagles midfielder, Mikel Obi, had missed a penalty given in the 60th minute when Skipper Kanu Nwankwo was upended in the box, Uche, who was attacking from the left wing, waltzed his way into Lesotho's defence to slot the ball home for Nigeria's second goal.
Nigeria dominated much of the game but could not make their superiority count as Lesotho put more emphasis on defence.
However, Lazio's Makinwa, who had earlier smashed his shot against the post, made no mistakes with just five minutes to the end of the second half when he beat the Lesotho goalkeeper to give the Super Eagles the lead.
Eagles coach, Berti Vogts, expressed delight at the team's performance, saying it represented yet another tune-up game ahead of the Nations Cup finals in January.
Source: Xinhua
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