Eagles, Lone Star share spoils

The Super Eagles were forced to a 2-2 draw by the Lone Star in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier played in Paynesville , Liberia on Saturday. It was the first leg encounter of a two-legged tie ahead of the continental competition.

Liberia shocked their visitors as early as the seventh minute when Omega Roberts found the back of the net, sending the capacity crowd at the stadium into jubilation.

But their celebration did not last long as Real Betis’ Nosa Igiebor latched on a pass in the 16th minute to put Nigeria back into the game.

Nigeria took the lead four minutes later after Ikechukwu Uche converted penalty resulting from a rough tackle in the Liberian goal area. But that did not keep the crowd quiet as they cheer the Lone Star on through opening half.

The resilience of the Liberians paid off in the 66th minute when CSKA Moscow’s Sekou Oliseh put his name on the scorers sheet, brightening their hope of making it to South Africa next year.

Chelsea’s new signing, Victor Moses, was too much to handle for the Liberians as he acted as the ‘tormentor-in-chief’ until he was substituted with CSKA Moscow’s Ahmed Musa in the second half.

The return leg fixture will hold at a venue yet to be decided in Nigeria on October 14.