Supersand Eagles to play Mauritania in Kaduna

Nigeria’s Beach Soccer team, the Supersand Eagles, will host Mauritania in the second leg of their 2024 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Murtala Muhammed Square, Kaduna, on Saturday, the Nigeria Football Federation has confirmed.

Nigeria holds a first-leg advantage after beating Mauritania 5-4 in Nouakchott on Saturday.

In their first international game in five years, Coach Abdullahi’s team came from behind twice to defeat their hosts in an action-packed encounter.

Highly-experienced Emeka Ogbonna scored after only two minutes and 14 seconds to set the Supersand Eagles in the right spirit and mood for victory. Another veteran, Emmanuel Ohwoferia, doubled the lead for Nigeria 36 seconds later. The hosts halved the deficit to end the first period 2-1.

In the second period, Mauritania hit two quick goals to shoot to a 3-2 lead before another veteran, Victor Tale, equalised for Nigeria.

The hosts again shot into the lead early in the third period, but goals by Taiwo Adams and Tale gave Nigeria the day and the needed impetus ahead of the return leg.

The NFF last week announced the appointment of Isa, who is a former assistant coach of the team, as the new head coach, with Christopher Kadiri as assistant coach and Bashar Samaila as goalkeepers’ trainer.

The Supersand Eagles won the Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations in 2007 and 2009, winning a couple of silver medals at the same competition and also harvesting bronze medals on a couple of occasions.

The team also represented Africa at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup on many occasions, including reaching the quarterfinals in Ravenna, Italy, in 2011 before losing to Brazil in overtime.

The team was withdrawn from participating in international competitions by the NFF after their poor outing at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Paraguay in 2019.

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