In the absence of Ahmed Musa, the 26-year-old took over the armband and was among the goals as they won their second Group A match. When Nigeria’s Super Eagles defeated Sao Tome and Principe 10-0 in their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match on Monday, forward Moses Simon celebrated his status as captain. At Stade Adrar in Morocco, the 26-year-old, who plays for Ligue 1 club Nantes, wore the captain’s armband as the Super Eagles cruised to their second Group A victory.
In the absence of captain Ahmed Musa, who did not start in the game, Simon was handed the mantle to lead the side as Nigeria scored through Victor Osimhen, who grabbed four goals, Simon himself got on the scoresheet with one goal, Terem Moffi (2), Oghenekaro Etebo (1), Ademola Lookman (1) and Emmanuel Dennis (1) for the historic win. “Big honour for me to wear the captain armband of the Super Eagles,” Simon wrote on his Twitter handle. “A historic win for the team as well. To God be all the glory.” Meanwhile, Nigeria winger Nnamdi Oduamadi believes striker Osimhen was born to score goals and will score more if he gets good service.
“I’ve watched him [Osimhen] in Italy play for Napoli several times, he’s one player that is born to score goals,” Oduamadi told Punch Sports Extra. “He just needs good service to keep scoring. I’m happy for him and I hope he scores more goals. He’s the best striker in the Eagles at the moment.” Apart from scoring four goals against Sao Tome, Osimhen also equalled a nine-year four-goal-a-game record set by Oduamadi. The former Torino player now believes with more games to come, Osimhen will surpass the same. “I watched the game and I was happy that he scored that fourth goal after he bagged his hat-trick. He did well and if he takes his chances in games, he will surpass that record in other games.” The huge win enabled Nigeria to move top of Group A with six points, having beaten Sierra Leone 2-1 in their opener at Abuja National Stadium. Nigeria will now prepare to face Guinea-Bissau in their matchday three fixture on September 19.