Peter Utaka scored the first 2 goals
Abuja, Nigeria – The Nigerian Green Eagles dominated the Ethiopian Walyas in a match that saw – Peter Utaka and Ikechukwu Uche scored a couple of goals each.
When the Eagles opened the score just 30 seconds into the game, Nigerian sports fans were expecting to see an avalanche of goals, but the Ethiopian defense prevailed.
However, the situation changed in the second half as Utaka doubled the score (53’).
Utaka was replaced in the second half by Uche, who found the net in the 78th minute and then sealed the win in injury time.
It was the first competitive win for Nigeria’s new coach, Samson Siasia. He took over in the wake of the poor performance at the World Cup last year and with the team mired in a corruption scandal.
Madagascar 1 Guinea 1
Meanwhile in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Group B leader Guinea was held to a 1-1 draw by Madagascar here today in the 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifier.
It was the host who opened the score 17 minutes into the game thanks to Yvan Rajaonarimana. And that’s how the two teams went to the dressing room at the end of the first half.
Guinea had to wait until the last ten minutes of the game to clinch the equalizer from a goal by Djoulde Bah.
For Madagascar, this was the team’s first point and also the first goal scored after it lost its first two matches to Nigeria (0-2) and Ethiopia (0-1).
| Group B | ||||||||
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Guinea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Nigeria | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Ethiopia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 3 |
| Madagascar | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 1 |
The following is a play by play that appeared on MTN:
Final Score: Nigeria 4 Ethiopia 0
90’ – GOAL! Ike Uche back with a bang! A super strike from distance which beat the goalkeeper, who was off his lines.
89’ – Nigeria substitution: Joel Obi is out for Kalu Uche.
82’ – Nsofor is booked for a foul on Tefera.
81’ – Ethiopia make another replacement.
78’ – Nice setup by Osaze for Uche to score this goal. His introduction has been the key to the Eagles revival after a somewhat lethargic showing for long periods.
77’ – GOAL! Substitute Ike uche stabs home from inside the six-yard box for goal number 3! It’s a great return for Uche who has been sidelined by knee injuries for over a year.
69’ – Nigeria substitution: Ike uche replaces for Utaka of Nigeria.
67’ – The fans still want more goals and keep singing as such… There should be more goals from the Eagles at this point in time.
66’ – Relief for the Ethiopians as the goalkeeper finally gets back on his feet to continue the game. A free kick is awarded to Ethiopia from inside their territory.
65’ – Ethiopia goalie is down on the turf and it seems he may not be able to finish this game…
– This is a big blow to the Walya Antelopes! The goalkeeper has been the saving grace of the Ethiopians.
64’ – Ethiopia goalie makes a point-blank save off Nsofor and the rebound is headed wide by the Ethiopia shot stopper.
63’ – Yobo clears out of danger as Ethiopia make a replacement.
62’ – Ahmed Musa is now a lot more visible on the right flank for Nigeria.
61’ – A foul against Osaze inside the Ethiopia goal area and free kick to the Walya Antelopes.
60’ – Ethiopia seem to have opened up now and want to attack led by Tefera.
59’ – Osaze’s introduction appears to have pepped up the Eagles attack now.
– Expect more goals from Nigeria now…
58’ – Ethiopia keep at their short passing game as the Eagles go for more goals.
57’ – Nigeria substitution: Osaze replaces Anichebe for Nigeria.
55’ – This is not exactly the explosive display that coach Siasia promised, but at least the Eagles seem to be coasting to a home win now.
54’ – This should be a welcome relief to the home team, but Ethiopia are complaining that the goal was scored from an offisde position.
54’ – Ethiopia get another booking, this time for their skipper. It’s the fourth booking for the visitors.
53’ – GOAL! Utaka gets his second goal of the night to the delight of the fans! Utaka controls the ball before he rounds up the Ethiopia goalie to slot home his second of the night.
51’ – Musa’s cross from the right is saved by the second time of asking.
50’ – Fikru Tefera, the only foreign pro on the Ethiopian side, is showing signs of his class in this clash.
49’ – Ahmed Musa for Nigeria delivers a cross from the right but an Ethiopia defender is cleared out of danger.
48’ – Nsofor seems to be struggling as he again shoots wide off target.
47’ – Eagles win a throwin around the Ethiopia territory.
– Both teams start trotting out from the dressing room for the resumption of the second half…
– Nigeria have to take their chances and score more goals.
46’ – Ethiopia kick off the second half.
46’ – Nigeria go on the attack immediately.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
End of 1st Half: Nigeria 1 Ethiopia 0
45 + 1’ – Only one goal seperates the team ranked 39th in the world and the one ranked 124th.
45’ – Ethiopia will have to be encouraged by what they have seen in the first half just as it ends with Nsofor fluffing another fine chance.
44’ – Eagles get a throwin around the corner, but nothing comes out of this. There will be an addition minute in this first half.
43’ – Utaka misses what ought to be the second goal of the day, but he chose to blaze his shot from eight yards out – well off the mark.
43’ – What a miss! Nigeria will go on to regret this miss. The Eagles would have gone into the dressing room with at least a two-goal cushion…
42’ – Anichebe is caught offside as Nigeria launch another attack.
41’ – Joel Obi is denied by the Ethiopia goalie, his shot from the top of the box is scrambled away for a corner.
40’ – Ethiopia now passing the ball very well among themselves to the delight of the home fans.
38’ – Taye Taiwo’s shot from the left screams across the face of goal as the Eagles search for a second goal.
37’ – Mikel is crowded out by Ethiopian defenders as Nigeria again attack.
35’ – Nigeria need to make the most of their advantages by scoring more goals in this tie.
34’ – It’s still 1-0 in favour of hosts Nigeria. A lack of chemistry upfront again denies Nigeria another goal…
33’ – A long searching ball from Okonkwo fails to locate Nsofor.
29’ – Utaka is always getting into scoring positions but on this occasion he just fails to make contact to a pass right inside the Ethiopia box.
29’ – The fans are singing they want more goals… The Eagles have not capitalised on their dream start and Ethiopia are gaining in confidence.
28’ – An Nsofor free kick is easily saved by the Ethiopia goalie.
27’ – Free kick to Nigeria after Anichebe is fouled close to the box.
25’ – Ethiopia are happy for Nigeria to come at them. The visitors are playing with a lot more confidence now.
23’ – Utaka was blown offside. Joel Obi initiates another Nigeria attack and gets a throwin around the Ethiopia box.
22’ – The SuperSport United striker was unhappy his team were not awarded a penalty after it seemed a player was brought down inside the Eagles area.
21’ – Game is held up temporarily as Tefera of Ethiopia is booked for dissent.
19’ – The eagles are not playing with as much cohesion as we saw them do against Sierra Leone in their friendly in Lagos last month.
18’ – Nsofor’s low cross beats everyone inside the Ethiopia box including his own teammates.
18’ – Powerful shot by Chibizor Okonkwo, the only player from the Nigeria Premier League, screams into touch from distance.
17’ – Mikel pass beats Anichebe, if not Nigeria would have been celebrating a second goal.
16’ – Foul against Nigeria and a free kick for Ethiopia inside their own box.
15’ – Nigeria again on the attack through the left flank.
13’ – The game is being played at a slow pace. Ethiopia are again under pressure from Nigeria.
12’ – Another shot at goal by Ethiopia, but its wide off target.
12’ – The visitors are now more settled after that early setback as they begin to string passes between themselves in midfield.
11’ – Eagles goalkeeper has his first feel of the ball and it’s Ethiopia’s first shot at goal.
9’ – Ethiopia attack but they are cut short by a foul on their part.
8’ – His size, power and pace are causing the visitors all manner of problems already.
7’ – Coach Siasia’s prayer for an early goal has been answered while Anichebe is proving to be a real thorn in the flesh of the Ethiopia defence.
6’ – A little mix-up in the Nigerian defence but danger is cleared just in time.
5’ – They enjoy more of the ball as Ethiopia are camped in their own half of the pitch.
4’ – Nigeria are in full control of the game, looking good for more goals.
3’ – The Ethiopians are already confused and give away a needless corner to the Eagles.
2’ – GOAL! Nigeria score! It’s Peter Utaka, surprise starter for this game.
– Victor Anichebe sets up Utaka to slot home. and it’s scored within a minute.
1’ – Nigeria kick off…
– Skippers of both teams do the routine pre-match formality. Nigeria will play from right to left, while Ethiopia start the game from left to right.
– Guinea only salvaged a draw with five minutes left on the clock against the group’s bottom team Madagascar.
– A big boost for the Eagles going into this game was that Group B leaders Guinea forced a 1-1 draw in Madagascar earlier today.
– Big, noisy crowd here at the Abuja National Stadium to witness coach Samson Siasia’s competitive debut.
– Martins who is still nursing a groin injury has not been included in tonight’s lineup.
– Both teams are on the pitch, getting set for the match. Nigeria are in all-green, Ethiopia in all-yellow strips.
– Good evening and welcome to our live Play-by-Play coverage of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Group B qualifier between Nigeria and Ethiopia live from Abuja.
GONE BOY YOU WILL MAKE IT , FOOTBALL IS YOURS NIGERIA ,NIGERIA ARE ALREADY THERE IN THE NATION CUP 2012
Let this guys know who the Eagles are. They’re untourchable.
NIGERIA’S TEAM NOW’S D BEST IN AFRICA,THEY’RE HOT NO DOUBT.
we Ethiopians are goot at playing short football. I think the coach shold be replaced by an ethiopian citizen. And pscychological terapy is needed for our players. As we are good in war, to defend italians, Eritreans, and the now egyptians; we should strive.
Better luck next time but Nigeria had a better team
i like the lose b/c it is an indication of lack of appropriate/just leadership in our sport/EFF.
ETHIOPIA STILL HAVE A CHANCE WE WILL BEAT NIGERIA AND MADACASCAR AT HOME 1-0 AND DRAW AT GUINEA
IF U SEE THE REST OF THE GROUP IT IS VERY TIGHT I REALY DO BELIVE WE HAVE A GOOD CHANCE
BUT WE SHOULD WORK HARD TO BEAT NIGERIA AT HOME
OUR BOYS ARE DONE THERE BEST STOP BLEMING THEM BLEM THE FEDERATION WHO ORGINAZIED A FRINDLY GAME WITH YIRGALEM KENEMA TO FACE NIGERIA
i feel sorry for Ethiopian football federation.i think bringing new coach form other country is not solving our problems.the problem is on the players,no talent and no Technic. honestly they can’t play soccer any more and you can’t change the truth, it’s been several years.we needs to admit our weakness and move on what we get result on athletics.instead of paying a lot of money, lets build athletics stadium.
well! our national team lost to good team no panic we got beat by good Nigerian team,which is top five team in African soccer. let us learn from our mistake get ready for up coming matches.let us stop this non sens by blaming the coaches or players. lets not forget not to long ago world champion France lost to one of bottom feeding European team. so let us chill and take deep breath let the players and coaches figure out what happen. we as fan let us support them,after all the best we could do is and wish them victories.
why do you expect a different result when we are not doing anything different? We have fundamental issues that need to be addressed. A coach is not a vodoo man. Like Onura said, the Ethiopian game is nothing but a “street” game.
good Ethiopia do u hear us? when we did like there ? we two foot and a brain y they score on us even if they r hard in football life .sorry! anyway it is good .if i were see it on live we were tell all the story but we r not like for sponsor of DSTV.
It is a disaster. Allah yashmaqachihu !! ashemaqequn eko!!
1-0 , 2-0 ok…. 4-0 what?? was it basket ball or ragby?? let. the caoch and the federation were reluctant to listen to what people have said on this website and other media. There are a number of professional players in europ.they were not ready to include them. Allah moralacihun yigdelew abooo!!! moralachinin gedelachihut.
Nigeria is a very limited side as we saw in the world cup .. So losing 4 – 0 to Nigeria shows how limited Ethiopian football is .. the attention of the Ethiopian public and even the footballers is English PL or Spanish La Liga .. obviously they haven’t learnt a thing ..
There seems to be an underlying problem in Ethiopian football that may come to the light with questions such as how much grass roots football development exist in Ethiopia, how professional and modern is the football coaching community, how corrupt are the Football federation, how professionally do the players conduct themselves in their day to day lives, how much do the players really understand the game tactically apart from having good touch on the ball and technical abilities etc .. None or all of these questions answered means Ethiopia will continue marching backwards and making excuses for failure!!
Uh, we better run than play football. Coze, football is a team work wich is not feature of us.
Wow!!
Just wondering why??? Why the nigerians hide the game?? They have to give a permission to dstv? But it looked that due to diss agreement with nigerians, dstv couldn’t broadcast the game, why ??? Even in ethiopia they didn’t see the game.
People, it is so hard to trust nigerians, all the time there are crimes behind them. Eventhough it is a sport, nigerians and egyptians like to apply witch craft and majic to win the ball. I personally don’t trust nigerians were ever I go, for me ethiopia 0 nigeria 4 is absolutly wrong. Very shortly, when the ethiopian players wake up from nigerians witch craft and majic they will tell us the reality.
Come on, the ethiopians were prepared too, but the nigerians stranded our players with a witch craft and scored 4 goals. Why thy hide the game, how come dstv did not broad cast the game???
People, on the return game for sure, ethiopia will win nigeria 5-0 and the nigerians will complain on the weather and fucking alttitude and latitude or what ever come to thiers brain, because nigerians are full of fake and majic!!
Why indians are not playing soccer???? Nigerians and egyptians are the same like indians.
Anyways, hopefully we will hear something when the ethiopians players wake up in ethiopia, addis ababa
Kikikikiki, for sure on the next game, some where in june, in addis ababa stadium, ethiopia will beat up nigeria 3-0 or 5-0 and all of us or ethiopians will watch the game through out dstv and sreaming live!!
They sranded our players and scored 4 goals, that is why the game was hidden.
This is very big shame. How come after we always lose 4-0 we still keep the same team? After this 2012 Qualifiers all ethiopian players should be fired and get a whole new 11 players.
We need a better premier league also and more stadiums and youth academies.
We have 80 million for god sake, im sure we can find the best.
A good start for Siaone. But more job need to be done especially in the midfield. Must give him kudos for the improved defence, but also need more job to done there.
Having won this one, Nigerians are looking forward to the Argentina encounter in June.
4-0 is too much, at this age (for a national team)
All of our players should attend motivational classes. All the bullshit talks of tactic, physcial etc should be put in to garbage can once and for all. This is not a battle or something which needs any technological advancement, for God’s sake. This is FOOTBALL. which requires some kicking and passing tallent and of cource two legs and a brain to be able to ‘decieve’ his oponents, in soft game.Just that’s it. They have to enjoy the game be it with eagles or barcelona, and try to roll the ball in the field, SIMPLE.
Have your read what ‘Uche’ said, “It has been long since Nigeria scored 4 goals” This is bullshit, freinds, all those responsible for those goals must be persuaded to hang their boots (in meskel sq.) and sent to tendaho ersha limat or minamin.
how could we lose this golden chance? how? i got questions for the Ethiopian football federation.for how many years will this history continue. i am from Debremarkos.
I am sorry for ethiopians football. I know Nigeria is agood team .
Same shit different day
In a way this is what I expected and probably most others. But, to show there is some change they should have tried to control the damage.The likely scenario now is that the team and the coach will be on their own way at the end of his contract and it is a fair one. Point taken, we have figured out top class coach is no the missing link 
Sorry, the Waliyas, CECAFA teams rarely win in Nigeria. That said, the chances of Ethiopia qualifying may be slim but they can still salvage pride, even though the ultimate price is qualification. I do not think the Waliyas will beat Guinea in Conakry, or eve get a point;Ethiopia is not known for playing negative/defensive football. That said, Ethiopia will beat Madagascar in Addis, no doubt about that. Ethiopia can also beat Nigeria in Addis, like they did in 1993 for the CAN 1994 qualifiers (the score was 1-0). I will not waste my time doing the calculus because we have to hope Nigeria and Guinea mess up. I did not watch the game but I hope someone can give me a report.
Nothing new under the sun, the better team won. But as a citizen I continue to support the Ethiopian team with good heart no matter what came out of a game win or loose.That is the essence of good sportsmanship. the deal is not done yet. Ethiopia had played two away games and has two home games in hand even though the one away game with guinea might face the same challenge as this one. Walia antelopes go on we are with you. you will never walk alone.
I think they missed a golden opportunity.Now the competition is between Guinea and Nigeria.Ethiopia`s chance to qualify for cup of nations is very very slim.They have to beat Guinea in Conakry,which is unlikely.Well,now the coach and players have to sit and evaluate themselves.The other question is to ask if the salary of the coach is justified.He is paid $13000 USD(221000 Birr)/month and in addition to that he gets free plane tickets,free home etc etc.The coach has a lot to explain.