Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi hailed his team's defence as the key to success during their 2-0 home win on Saturday against Chad in their opener of the 2017 Nations Cup qualifiers. “It was a tough game but I'm glad we came away with the three points. The defence played well, they were disciplined in their marking, they did what we practised in the training sessions," Keshi told reporters after the game. The Super Eagles scored two-second half goals from Gbolahan Salami and Odion Ighalo against a hard-battling team. "The first half was a bit off because the players were still getting to know each other. They were cautious because this was our second game together after the friendly against Kaduna United. There was a lot of anxiety, but we were a bit more relaxed in the second half. We had the possession and we controlled the game," he added. "The substitutions with Rabiu (Ibrahim) and Odion (Ighalo) made the team to start clicking and I hope we have more of that in the next couple of games," he said. The game also witnessed the sent off of Ogenyi Onazi after a bust-up with opponents. "Onazi was upset because the player elbowed him and he vented his frustrations out. I might do the same thing if it happened to me too. He had a rush of blood and acted that way," he concluded. Nigeria are joint-top of the Group G with Egypt who defeated Tanzania 3-0 on Sunday. (For more sportsnews andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/132856.aspx
