Super Eagles stand-in captain Ogenyi Onazi has told AfricanFootball. com he is excited with the future of Nigeria after he led a youthful team to beat West African rivals Mali 1-0 in a friendly in France.
The Lazio midfielder led the team in absence of captain Mikel Obi and his assistant Ahmed Musa, who were released by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to feature in the Yobo testimonial game.
Youngsters Musa Mohammed, Alex Iwobi, Moses Simon and Kingsley Madu all started against one of Africa’s durable teams Mali. “This is a very young team and everyone was fighting to play, hungry to win. There is future for Nigeria football sure,” an impressed Onazi told African- Football.com.
Onazi also delighted in his new leadership role as stand-in captain. “I am really happy to lead the team to victory as the captain and assistant were not here, I am happy to represent them very well and make sure everything was in order and the team were in high spirit,” Onazi told AfricanFootball.com “We were focused on winning the game, we took the match seriously and it was very important e won.”