Rwanda vs Nigeria: Artificial turf struggles and 4 things we learnt in Super Eagles’ draw against Rwanda

Nigeria settled for a goalless draw against Rwanda in the second match of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Despite recording 20 shots and creating three big chances, the Super Eagles could not beat Fiacre Ntwari, who was between the sticks for the Wasps.

The following are some key takeaways from the game;  

The Amahoro Stadium is the largest stadium in Rwanda, but the pitch surface is hybrid rather than pure grass. With most of the Super Eagles players used to pure grass surfaces in their respective European clubs, it affected their game flow.

According to reports, a top NFF official condemned the pitch before the game and hoped that it would not affect the Super Eagles players.

The first ten minutes of the game was mostly Rwanda, which is a combination of several factors.

Before the game, Super Eagles interim coach Augustine Eguaveon said his team will respect the opponent regardless of whom they are, and we saw this play out at the start of the game. 

As the visiting team, Nigeria showed respect to Rwanda in front of a loud home crowd by dropping a bit deep, but with time they took charge of the game.

The artificial surface was also a contributing factor to Nigeria’s game flow, but they adapted quite well. 

The Bayer Leverkusen man got the nod to start ahead of Osimhen once again, but just like against Benin, he struggled to impact the game.

Boniface is a different profile of striker compared to his compatriot, Osimhen. While the Galatasaray man haggles the defender and runs all day, Boniface prefers to come for short exchanges with his teammates. 

However, the closest that the Leverkusen striker got to scoring was when he struck the crossbar after some good footwork.

Eguaveon’s side could not find the back of the net, but it was not for a lack of trying, as they created three big chances and had nine shots on target. However, they could not land the ultimate blow. Boniface struck the crossbar, while the Rwandan goalkeeper made nine saves.