Monsuru Abdulsalam and Akinkunmi Amoo shone for the Golden Eaglets when they lost 2-1 to Sao Paulo FC U17s in a warm-up match preparatory to the U17 World Cup in Brazil.
Stocky attacking midfielder Amoo was introduced in the 35th minute for Peter Ukeme and proved a handful for the Brazilians before the interval.
In the second half, Monsuru Abdulsalam’s left footed shot inside the box was parried by the Sao Paulo goalkeeper for a corner kick.
The resultant corner kick was not well –connected, but there was a glimpse of hope that the equaliser was lurking around and it came few minutes later when the lively Monsuru dribbled past three defenders, surged into the box and was hacked down for a penalty kick.
Olakunle Olusegun converted the opportunity to make it 1-1.
The Eaglets, who made many changes in this game, continued piling pressure to break the defence of Sao Paulo for a second time, but the goalkeeper came severally to the rescue of the Brazilians.
As time ticked away, Sao Paulo’s attackers pounced on a loose ball from the midfield, launched a counter attack and a cross from the left side of the midfield was neatly jabbed into the net by Enrique Santos in the 85th minute for the winning goal.
The Eaglets are billed to face a sterner test when they face Japan U17, who beat the same Sao Paulo FC 3-0 in a friendly recently.
