The Super Eagles of Nigeria played a 1-1 draw against Russia in an international friendly match at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Even though the squad was heavily rotated, Nigeria went into the match off the back of winning the 2025 Unity Cup after beating Jamaica on penalties in London.

The Eagles conceded an unlucky goal in the first half. Bright Osayi-Samuel was beaten on pace, and Semi Ajayi inadvertently deflected the resulting cross past Maduka Okoye.

Tolu Arokodare, a second-half substitute who replaced the struggling Victor Boniface, took advantage of a misplaced pass in the Russian defence to equalise in the 71st minute.

Super Eagles boss Eric Chelle praised his team's character to come back from a goal down and singled out two players for their fantastic performances.

“We showed character to come back. Tolu [Arokodare] and Maduka [Okoye] were fantastic, and this result gives us confidence for the qualifiers,” he said, as quoted by Brila FM.

Arokodare scored the equaliser 10 minutes after coming on and was lively throughout. Okoye made three saves, including a match-deciding save in the 83rd minute.

The manager was tactically conscious to spot the flaw in his team's game and promised to work on fixing it ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifying games later in the year.

“I would like to note that this was a very good match for us. The Russian team is great. Your players played great: they have good technique, and they are especially strong in pressing. The whole game was interesting, and, in my opinion, a draw is a fair result in such a difficult match,” he said at the post-match conference as quoted by RFU.

“The game was indeed difficult. We had a few moments, and the Russians did too. I think that two strong teams met. We will make changes, we will work on playing under pressure, because this problem has already arisen in the last three matches.

“We need to learn to cope with the opponent's pressing – this was especially noticeable in the second half, when we were practically left without the ball. This is thanks to the Russian footballers. I think we need to improve this component of our game.”

The Franco-Malian manager remains unbeaten in five games as Super Eagles head coach, and up next are crucial World Cup qualifier matches against Rwanda and South Africa in September.

Legit.ng reported that Victor Boniface announced his retirement from international football after another uninspiring performance for Nigeria against Russia.

The Bayer Leverkusen forward made his debut in September 2023 and has yet to score his first goal despite playing 13 matches, and faces heavy criticism from the fans.

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Source: Legit.ng