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Babajide Orevba
– Super Eagles were unimpressive during their recent friendlies against Algeria and Tunisia
– Nigeria who were 29th in the world have dropped three spots to 32nd
– Algeria have now displaced the Super Eagles to become 3rd best in Africa
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Super Eagles of Nigeria have who were 29th in the September Fifa rankings have dropped three spots and are now 32nd.
No thanks to their poor outing during the October 9 and 13 friendlies against reigning African champions Algeria as well as Tunisia respectively.
The Desert Foxes defeated Gernot Rohr’s side 1-0 before the Eagles were forced to a 1-1 draw by the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia, both games were played in Austria.
Ramy Bensebaini’s lone strike in the sixth minute was all Algeria needed to outshine Nigeria in an international friendly game.
The reigning African kings maintained their dominance over the Super Eagles after recording a victory against them for the second straight time in 15 months.
In the game against Tunisia, Kelechi Iheanacho ended his three-year goal drought when he wriggled his way out of the North African’s defence before slotting past Ben Mustapha in goal to give Nigeria the lead.
Super Eagles of Nigeria are now 32nd in the world.
Photo: Patrick Smith
Source: Getty Images
However, the North Africans restored parity in style after Kenneth Omeruo was beaten in the danger area before the ball was squared to Mohamed Draeger who found the roof of the net leaving goalkeeper Maduka Okoye hapless in goal, as it ended 1-1.
Consequently, Nigeria are now 4th best team in Africa as Algeria who were 35th in the world move up five places to 30th in the world and then 3rd in Africa.
Senegal remains the best team on the continent occupying the 21st position while Tunisia are second in 26th.
Meanwhile, in the top rankings around the globe, Belgium, France and Brazil are the leading teams in that order while England and Portugal complete the top 5.
Legit.ng earlier reported that Gernot Rohr was without key players including Wilfred Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo and Joe Aribo during the international break, but seems pleased with his team’s performance.
The friendly matches against Algeria and Tunisia were put together as preparatory games ahead of the November 9 and 17 doubleheader with Sierra Leone in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Nigeria lead Group L in the qualifying series having defeated Benin Republic and Lesotho in 2019 to claim maximum points.
Earlier billed for 2021, the African Cup of nations has been shifted until 2022, no thanks to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic which forced football to be halted across the world for months.
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