Nigeria handed themselves a great chance into the last-16 of the World Cup after beating Iceland 2-0 in their second game in Group D on Friday.
Ahmed Musa, who made his first start in the competition, showed his worth with two outstanding strikes for the Super Eagles at the Volgograd Arena.
The opening goal, four minutes after a drab first half. Victor Moses raced down the sideline and sent a cross into the box for Ahmed Musa. He controlled it nicely with his first touch, then slammed it home.
Musa nearly got a second when his shot caromed off the top bar. Then a moment later, in the 75th minute, he latched onto a long ball, cut inside and beat a defender and then the keeper before firing the ball into the net.
Iceland’s Gylfi Sigurdsson shot an 82nd minute penalty over the top of the bar, denying his team a chance to try to force a late comeback.
All three other teams in the group remain in the hunt to go through with Croatia, but Argentina and Iceland know they have to win to have any chance of progressing.
Nigeria, who have now gone second in the group behind Croatia, will face Argentina in their final group game on Tuesday.
