Nigeria finish second at Copa Lagos

Nigeria’s Super Sand Eagles ended up in second place for the second successive year and behind Ivory Coast at the Copa Lagos Beach Soccer.

The Nigerians eased past Lebanon 7-4 in the final game of the beach soccer tournament at the Eko Atlantic City on Sunday.

It was Abu Azeez who set the tone for the Nigerians as he has done in their previous two matches. The Warri Wolves man netted inside the opening minute against the Lebanese.

Ahmed Grada pulled Lebanon level three minutes later and his teammate Mohamed Merhi fired in a free kick past Nigeria goalkeeper Olalekan Oladepo to give the Asians a 2-1 lead.

Sand Eagles captain Victor Tale then scored twice in two minutes to restore his team’s one-goal before Merhi once again netted from a free kick to even the score at 3-3.

Ifeanyi Onuigbo, playing in his first beach soccer competition, netted Nigeria’s fourth just before the end of the first period.

Nigeria started the second period with a goal lead, and Azeez produced two excellent moments to increase the lead of the Sand Eagles.

The Wolves striker scored from an overhead kick and then from a composed finish to give Nigeria a 6-3 lead at the end of the second period.

Lebanon began the third period with Merhi scoring after Grada’s effort grazed the woodwork and bounced back into play.

The final period proved to be a struggle of some sorts for both teams but Azeez capped the day as he started when he scored Nigeria’s seventh goal of the game in the last minute to kill off any resistance from Lebanon.

Earlier in the day, the Ivorians retained their Copa Lagos title by defeating England 6-4 in a tight contest.

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