Iwobi starred in the winplaceholder image
Iwobi starred in the win | AFP via Getty Images
Two Fulham stars featured in an international win on Saturday, and another sat on the bench.
Two Fulham players were in action for Nigeria on Saturday, while another sat on the bench for the entirety. Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi starred in a narrow 1-0 win over Rwanda for Nigeria to keep them in the hunt for the World Cup, while Samu Chukwueze was left on the bench.
Nigeria are currently third in their World Cup qualifying group, one point behind Benin and six points behind leaders South Africa. For context, first place qualifies for the World Cup automatically while four of the best second place teams out of eight groups progress to the play-off round.
Currently, the fourth-best second placed team is Burkina Faso with 14 points, and with Nigeria on 10 points with three games remaining, they will likely need to win all of their remaining games to keep their World Cup dream alive. They play leaders South Africa on Tuesday and then Lesotho and Benin in their final games in October.
As for the win over Rwanda, a win that keeps the Super Eagles’ chances alive for now, Tolu Arokodare scored the winner after 50 minutes, but Pulse Sports have Fulham man Alex Iwobi as the Man of the Match with a rating of 7.1.
They reasoned: “The Fulham midfielder carried his form from this Premier League season into this match and played the most important role in ensuring the Super Eagles were victorious in Uyo. Iwobi was everywhere. In the first half, he was playmaker in chief, playing incisive passes which dared the attackers to do. In the second half he had a quarterback role and interpreted it with aplomb.”
As for Bassey, he was given a 6.5, with the report explaining: “The Fulham player of the year was the leader in defence today, and he took his role seriously. He flexed his physical dominance over Rwandan forwards on occasion and was also integral in the Super Eagles' build-up.”
Elsewhere, OwnGoalNigeria rated Bassey as an 8/10. They reasoned: “Has grown into one of the leaders of the team in defence. Won everything thrown at him and most importantly avoided a yellow card which would have seen him miss the all important game on Tuesday.”
They added for Iwobi, who also got an 8/10: “One of his best performance in the Super Eagles shirt with his ball distribution and also chance creation. Stood out in the middle for the team.”
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