Moses Simon won his one hundredth cap for Nigerian but debutants George Ilhenikena and Moses Usor were the heroes, bagging a goal each as Nigeria came from behind to beat Madagascar 2-1 in their opening match of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Uyo.
Looking to put the ghosts of their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign behind them, where they failed to win their opening four games, the Super Eagles found themselves going behind in the opening quarter hour well against the run of play.
A short corner kick was delivered into the box, and Kari Eshan timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap and guide his header past Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria, who had dominated proceedings up until then and created opportunities of their own, were left shell-shocked.
Nigeria pressed forward, and Alex Iwobi thought he had found the equalizer, after pouncing on a dropped ball by Geordan Dupire. But the strike was ruled out for a foul by Akor Adams on the goalkeeper.
With Nigeria pressing to level scores, they left openings behind that the Barea constantly sought to exploit, but it was not until late in the first half that Ilhenikena, handed his first start on his first call up by Eric Chelle, pulled the Super Eagles level.
The former Monaco striker latched on to a deep ball from Iwobi, held off Jean-Pierre Morgan and slipped the ball past Dupire.
Madagascar had a chance to go ahead again in the second half, Rayan Raveloson again taking advantage of the high Nigeria line to bring himself one on one with goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, but the Chippa United stopper held his nerve, stared down the striker and made the save.
Eric Chelle made adjustments as the half wore on, throwing in a posse of substitutes as he chased the win. It was Usor, minutes after coming on for Samuel Chukwueze who delivered. The LASK forward took on two defenders out wide, skipped past both and ripped his effort past Dupire.
Fellow substitute Tolu Arokodare had a chance to stretch the advantage but hit the upright, and Dupire made a great save from a corner kick.
Nigeria would be relieved to keep all three points at home, but the performance will need to improve considerably.
Debutants make their mark
Chelle continued his habit of handing out debuts as he continues his rebuilding process. Despite having the more experienced Arokodare available, the coach went with the Ilhenikena, and the forward did not disappoint. He brought energy, strength and running well before his goal, which was richly-deserved.
When it was time for substitutes, again Chelle did not hesitate to look to another debutant despite having more experienced bodies on the bench. And again, he was not disappointed. With Ilhenikena and Usor, that takes Chelle's debutant count to 32 since he was appointed in January of 2025.
Both players join Akor Adams and Femi Azeez as scoring debutants under Chelle. And become part of a small group of Super Eagles players to have scored on their debut.
That includes names like Finidi George, Julius Aghahowa, Femi Opabunmi, Obafemi Martins, Stephen Makinwa, Ekigho Ehiosun, Brian Idowu, Joe Aribo and all the way back to Teslim Balogun against Sierra Leone in 1949.
To date, there have been 62 goalscoring debutants in Nigeria football history. That number just went up by two. Chelle has been responsible for capping four of those.
Nwabali takes back #1
One of the questions going into this game was which Nwabali would show up. The non-plussed, confident, shot stopper who could not be bothered by any forward in front of him, or the erratic one from his last few games before stepping out of football for a six-month hiatus.
The answer was both, although to be fair, there was considerably more of the former than the latter.
Watching that Madagascar goal had an entire nation going up in a collective groan: here we go again. While the defence went to sleep and played two players offside -- looking at you Ola Aina -- Nwabali most certainly could have done better.
The old Stanley would have sprinted off his box, charged at the ball and at least forced a mistake even if the bend on the ball would have made it hard for him to get. Instead, he just stood still, raised his hand for a non-existent offside call while the header sailed in.
Fortunately for Nigerians, that appeared to be his one lapse of the game. And when the old Nwabali showed up, he showed up big. Nigeria's defence were once again caught high up on the pitch, with acres of green behind them.
Raveloson was in the right place to exploit and went bearing down on unchallenged against Nwabali. The goalkeeper stood his ground, watched him all the way and at the very moment when the striker tried to round him, Nwabali went to ground, got a mitt to the ball and made the save. The collective sigh of relief from hundreds of millions of Nigerians was almost audible.
Maduka Okoye could have made a battle of this goalkeeping situation, but it would now appear that based on his performance, Nwabali will keep the shirt. That game against Russia could be the next time we see Okoye in green and white, if this is anything to go by.
Chelle cutting it fine
Nigeria remain unbeaten in competitive fixtures under Chelle, but oh how close he came to losing that record, and it was all of his own making.
Whether through the arrogance of over confidence or just sheer gall, Chelle put out a front-heavy lineup with little midfield protection. An attack-minded front of Ademola Lookman, Samuel Chukwueze, Adams and Ilhenikena left the midfield a little threadbare with just Iwobi's, an offensive midfielders and captain Wilfred Ndidi to patrol.
Ndidi, who should have been the deepest-lying midfielder, was frequently high up the pitch, leaving Iwobi in the unfamiliar position of having to track back to provide cover. Those rotations left gaping holes in midfield, holes that the Barea were more than happy to exploit.
The coach did make adjustments in the second half, with his substitutes, especially Simon tracking back and pinching in to provide an additional midfield body.
The newly-minted centurion did more than that, creating opportunities for others, including at least two great crosses that went a begging, and he even had a chance to get a goal of his own but for some great goalkeeping from Dupire.
As good as those tactical adjustments proved to be, Chelle must need to consider whether starting on the back foot is something he wants to continue doing going forward in a group where one mistake could be the difference between a ticket to East Africa and watching on television.