Moses Simon has praised Nigeria’s new crop of players after the Super Eagles twice came from two goals down to draw 3-3 with Russia in an international friendly at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on Tuesday.
The heavily-rotated squad, which handed debuts to nine players, needed a stoppage-time equaliser from Akor Adams to rescue a point.
The draw gave Chelle’s side something to build on after a difficult outing in AFCON 2027 qualifying, where Nigeria had just gone down 3-0 away to Guinea-Bissau. Kelechi Iheanacho put the Super Eagles ahead early in Nizhny Novgorod, Edokpolor added a well-taken second, and Abubakar teed up Adams’ late leveller after Russia had twice hit back to lead.
Simon, who started and was substituted in the 70th minute, picked up his 102nd Super Eagles cap in the match moving level with Joseph Yobo and Alex Iwobi on the all-time appearance list, behind only Ahmed Musa.
Writing on X after the final whistle, Simon singled out the character shown by the debutants, saying the quality on display gave reason to believe in a brighter future for the team.
A tough atmosphere, a demanding test, but these young players stood tall and showed real character to earn a commendable draw.
The talent, courage and composure on display offer plenty of reasons to believe in a brighter and greater future for this team.
The future is looking good for our country @ng_supereagles 🇳🇬🦅
