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The Super Eagles
last night showed glimpses of a side ready to take on the rest of the
world when they played out a 1-1 draw with Colombia in London, with
Lukman Haruna grabbing his first senior goal.

The encounter,
which came up inside an empty Milton Keynes Stadium, saw the team’s
coach, Lars Lagerback, making 10 changes to the side that started last
Tuesday’s drab goalless draw against Saudi Arabia, with Aiyegbeni
Yakubu wearing the skipper’s band and leading the attack, while Osaze
Odemwingie and Obinna Nsofor operated from the flanks.

The Colombians,
however, started out the stronger of both sides and only a brilliant
save from Enyeama in the 13th minute prevented the Colombians from
shooting into the lead, courtesy of a curling shot from way outside the
penalty area from number 17 shirted Arley Martinez. The South Americans
nevertheless, shot into the lead from the resultant corner kick,
following a poor clearance from Dickson Etuhu that saw the ball falling
onto the path of Carlos Valdez, who scored with a spectacular volley.

The goal, however,
had a positive effect on the Super Eagles as they came out of their
‘nest’ and initiated attack after attack with the two fullbacks, Taye
Taiwo on the left, and Chidi Odiah, on the opposite flank, running at
the defence of the Colombians. The final balls into the penalty area
however, lacked the required edge.

Nsofor could have
pulled the Super Eagles back on level terms in the 35th minute, but his
shot from way outside the Colombian area, following a beautiful
build-up from defence, was parried out of play by the Colombian
goalkeeper.

Haruna’s entry

Haruna’s
introduction at the start of the second half, in place of Yusuf Ayila,
brought a much needed creativity into the midfield, as he showed that
his performance against the Saudis was not a fluke. He fought for every
ball and dished out tackles, even getting on the receiving end of a
couple of rough challenges by the Colombians.

But the AS Monaco
of France player was well placed to pull the Super Eagles back on level
terms when his fierce drive from over 25 yards sailed into the back of
the net.

And as Lagerback
gets set to name his final 23-man squad list this morning, the former
junior international looks set to feature at his first senior World
Cup, three years after leading the Golden Eaglets to the Under-17 World
Cup.