Moses Simon and Akor Adams were on the scoresheet as Nigeria defeated Iran 2-1 in their first game of the four-team international friendly tournament at the Corendon Airlines Park, Antalya, Turkey, on Friday.
Nigeria, Iran, Costa Rica and Jordan are the four nations participating in the mini competition. Jordan was initially scheduled to host the friendlies, but the matches were moved to Turkey due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
It only took Simon six minutes into the match to put the Super Eagles ahead after the winger picked the ball up on the break and breezed past his marker before firing the ball into the bottom-left corner.
Both teams had decent chances to score again later on in the first half, but failed to make them count.
However, Adam doubled Nigeria’s advantage six minutes into the second half after the Sevilla forward calmly chipped a pass by Ademola Lookman over goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand from close range.
Despite the deficit, Iran still maintained momentum in its bid to make a comeback. The Iranian managed to pull one back in the 67th minute through forward Mehdi Taremi.
The Eagles ensured they kept Iran at bay for the remainder of the match to secure a victory.
Nigeria will face Jordan in their last game on Tuesday, with the tournament serving as an opportunity for head coach Eric Chelle to further assess his team ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
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