CHAN 2016: Tunisia hold Nigeria to 1-1 draw

Second half substitute Chisom Chikatara inspired Nigeria to a crushing 4-1 win over Niger in their African Nations Championships opening match at Kigali’s Nyamirambo stadium on Monday.

He joins Chikatara as the second Nigerian to pick the award at the ongoing tourney in Rwanda.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles, however, looked risky in the attack.

Kasperczak’s team boast of players from the top Tunisia clubs and the man to watch out for is Etoile du Sahel’s forward Ahmed Akaichi who scored a brace in their first game against Guinea. But referee Joshua Bondo disallowed the goal at the stroke of half time.

A 51st minute goal by Chikatara sent Nigerian bench into wild jubilation.

With the return from suspension of Austin Obaroakpo, it is left to be seen whether coach Sunday Oliseh will stick with the new central defence pairing of Kalu and Stephen Eze or get Obaroakpo back in the deep end right away against Tunisia on Friday.

With 12 minutes to go, Akaichi should have put his side ahead, but his weak shot from a few yards out was cleared off the line. “The doctor has done a good job in helping me stop the diarrhea”, a blunt Chikatara told Completesportsnigeria.com.

This paid off for the Carthage Eagles in the 70th minute when they drew level.

“Now, we focus on the next game against Tunisia and hopefully, I will get to add to my tally”, he concluded.

Tunisia’s hopes of reaching the quarter finals also remain alive as they have two points and face Niger in their last match. This was his third goal of the tournament.