Super Eagles B fall to Costa Rica defeat in San Jose
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- The second-string Nigerian national team did not have the quality needed to upset the North Americans in front of their home fans
Costa Rica enjoyed a fantastic World Cup send-forth party with a 2-0 win over the Super Eagles B at the National Stadium, San Jose, in the early hours of Thursday.
Despite boasting star quality in Napoli's Victor Osimhen and Atalanta's Ademola Lookman, Nigeria only paraded players drawn from the local league for the encounter.
And Costa Rica made the West Africans pay for that oversight as early as the seventh minute when former Arsenal man Joel Campbell combined superbly with Oscar Duarte to allow the latter to net the opening goal.
Nigeria's inexperienced defence did well to hold firm until midway into the second period when the Costa Ricans breached it again.
Joel Campbell was at it once more; the fleet-footed forward did well again to set up Kendall Waston, who sent a firm finish past Nigerian goalkeeper Kayode Bankole.
The defeat is Nigeria's second in history to Costa Rica, having suffered a narrow 1-0 friendly loss to Los Ticos in 2011.
The Super Eagles will look to welcome back some of Nigeria's best players before their next international friendly match next week.
The three-time African champions are scheduled to face former European champions Portugal in Lisbon on Thursday, November 17.