Nigeria’s Super Eagles suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Les Aigles of Mali in their second international friendly match Tuesday’s night in Marrakech, Morocco.
It was a night to forget for legendary Finidi George-led squad as they fell behind in the first half and struggled all through to get an equaliser only to concede yet another goal late on.
The AFCON 2023 vice champions had their wings clipped by the tactically sound Malian side with goals from youngsters El Bilal Touré and Kamory Doumbia on either side of the interval who handed Mali a memorable win and denied Finidi George his most desire second victory as Eagles interim coach.
Coming from a 2-1 win against Ghana on Friday at the same stadium, Nigeria’s Eagles were looking to make it two straight wins with Finidi George.
The interim coach made four changes to the team that defeated Ghana 2-1 on Friday with Moses Simon, Kenneth Omeruo, Jamilu Collins, and Raphael Onyedika replacing Cyriel Dessers, Benjamin Tanimu, Bruno Onyemaechi, and Frank Onyeka in the starting eleven.
The result is a terrible setback for legendary George who was looking for another strong performance and result that could see him win the race to succeed former head coach Jose Peseiro on a substantive capacity ahead of the return of the World Cup qualifiers in the summer against South Africa and Benin Republic.