The Feyenoord forward scored on his full Super Eagles debut off a beautiful Calvin Bassey cross.
Mexico took the game to the Nigerians early on as they scored in the 12th minute through Santiago Gimenez.
El Tri had the positive exchanges for much of the first half, mustering eight shots with four of them getting on target. The Super Eagles however could not register any shot in the opening 45 minutes.
The Mexicans began the second half just as they started the first as they dictated the opening exchanges.
Nigeria however fashioned out good attacking moves with one of them seeing Calvin Bassey beat his marker before delivering an inch-perfect cross for Dessers.
The Feyenoord man thumped in a powerful header which looked too hot to handle as the Mexican goalkeeper fumbled the ball.
Mexico restored their lead almost immediately as William Troost-Ekong scored an unfortunate own goal in the course of defending a cross from a Mexican player, barely three minutes after the Super Eagles restored parity.
The 56,872 people at the AT&T Stadium stood behind the Mexicans for large spells of the game as Jose Peseiro chose to tweak some systems in the team setup in the second half after an Innocent Bonke injury forced his hands.
The increasingly versatile Alex Iwobi sat in the defensive midfield after Bonke’s exit and did a good job alongside midfield partner Joe Aribo.
Sani Faisal came on for the injured Lorient star with the Nigerians sitting deeper in the game and looking to catch the Mexicans on the break.
Chiamaka Madu, Ishaq Rafiu and Victor Mbaoma all came on later in the second half with Rafiu looking the brightest amongst the trio.
His trickery helped open some spaces in the Mexican defense after coming on for Terem Moffi. Mbaoma replaced Dessers but couldn’t get involved in the game with Mexico dictating large spells of the game.
Ekong ensured the Super Eagles didn’t lose by a wider margin in the 84th minute as he made a good block off a Lainez shot.
Despite the depleted nature of the Super Eagles evident in how they set up, the game notwithstanding proved a good test for the Nigerians with some interesting discoveries for the coaches to ponder about.
Nigeria will next face Ecuador in another international friendly match.
This post was last modified on May 29, 2022 4:58 am