Nigeria continued from where they stopped in the first leg of this encounter at the Godswill Obot Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, Akwa Ibom, with Moses Simon breaking the deadlock in the 30th minute.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria had too much quality, especially in the defence for the indomitable lions of Cameroon. Unlike the match in Nigeria, the game at Yaoundé, Cameroon was tougher as the Cameroonians made life difficult for the Nigerian side.
Nigerian defenders were comfortable until Vincent Abubakar, the man who plays for FC Porto was introduced in the 61st minute to bolster the attack and break the resilient defence of the Super eagles.
Waves of attack paid off for Cameroon in the 72th minute as the referee awarded Cameroon a controversial penalty. Their star man Vincent Abubakar converted it, making it 1-1.
There was another penalty claim late in the game by Cameroon when Abubakar fell in the box 18 area but the referee looked the other way.
In the 88th minute, there was also another claim for a penalty but the referee didn’t award it.
The last fifteen minutes saw the Cameroonians dominate the game. But they couldn’t find the net after the penalty. Five minutes of time was added on but yet, the Super eagles held on.
As the final whistle was blown, it was tears for Cameroon as it dawned on them that they wouldn’t be going to Russia for the World Cup in 2018.
Nigeria will now have to wait for the result of the Algeria and Zambia game tomorrow to know their fate. As it stands now, Nigeria is on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup. Nigeria is currently on 10 points. A win for Algeria or a draw in that game will be good for Nigeria.
