Saudi Arabia and Nigeria faced off in an international friendly on Friday. Estádio Municipal de Portimão in Portugal was the venue of the match as the Super Eagles and the Green Falcons played out a 2-2 draw.
It's a wrap.
The Super Eagles share the spoils with the Green Falcons in Portugal.
The Asians with a late equaliser to draw things level after an impressive rally from Nigeria. An entertaining encounter all the same.#KSANGA | #SoarSuperEagles pic.twitter.com/vQOwtNxoQj
— Soar Super Eagles (@SSE_NGA) October 13, 2023
Substitute Salman Al-Faraj handed the Saudis the lead before an own-goal from Abdulelah Al Amri got Nigeria Level. With nine minutes to go, substitute Kelechi Iheanacho curled one home from the edge of the area to put Nigeria ahead for the first time. However, Mohamed Kanno scored a late free-kick to ensure the spoils were shared.
In this article, we'll take a look at the individual performances of some players on both sides.
Top Performers in Saudi Arabia vs Super Eagles Clash
Unsurprisingly, the game lived up to its billing as the Super Eagles and the Green Falcons treated the fans to a goalfest in Portugal.
Alex Iwobi – 7.5
The Fulham midfielder enjoyed a good game against the Arabs. He completed 44 of his attempted 51 passes (86%) in the game and also made seven passes into the final third. In addition, he made nine recoveries and completed 100% of his tackles. He also had a shot blocked.
Mohammed Al Owais – 7.5
The goalkeeper had a fine game individually. Despite the defeat, he made five saves to keep the scoreline balanced and his side got a deserved draw late on. He was commanding in his area and was not protected well enough by his defenders but the manager should be pleased with his performance.
Salman Al-Faraj – 7
The midfielder came off the bench to score the game’s opening goal. The 34-year-old did not take long to make his presence known but not without the aid of some poor goalkeeping from Nigeria’s Francis Uzoho. He was tidy with his passes, made five of them into the final third, and created a chance in his little time on the pitch.
Kelechi Iheanacho – 7
The Leicester City star has been in a rich vein of form in recent weeks and he showed that once again against the Green Falcons. Iheanacho curled home a beautifully to hand Nigeria the lead late in the second half.
Calvin Bassey – 6.5
Iwobi’s teammate at club level. He was good at the heart of the defense and made good use of the ball in the contest. The left-footed center-back completed (49/56) 88% of his passes and won 4/6 of his ground duels.
Lowest Player Ratings in Saudi Arabia vs Super Eagles Clash
Again, it's really no surprise that the lowest ratings were mostly awarded to players who underperformed in the entertaining draw.
Samuel Chukwueze – 4.5
The AC Milan forward missed a great chance to put Nigeria ahead and was quite selfish in the final third. He was not connecting with the rest of his teams adequately and was rightly withdrawn after the Super Eagles went behind.
Abdulelah Al Amri – 4
The Al Nassr defender turned the ball into his own net to hand the Super Eagles the equalizer and was quite shaky every time he came up against Boniface or Osimhen.
Francis Uzoho – 4
This is a player who is still trying to convince Nigerians that he deserves a place in the team, but he was culpable in the game’s opening goal. He could not deal with Al-Faraj’s free-kick letting the ball fly past him into the corner of the net. Apart from that, he had nothing to do in the game.
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 weeks ago
