Briefs on Milestones from Zambian game....

Here are some achievement milestones that were reached or are close after Nigeria’s game against Zambia.

1     Coach Gernot Rohr became the second Nigerian manager not give a single player a debut in his first two games in charge. The other was Bora Milutinovic who went  seven games without giving any player a debut. Note that Lars Lagerback, after giving one player a debut in his first game, went the  next five games without introducing a new player.

2   Kelechi Iheanacho scored in his fourth consecutive games. If he scores in his next game, he will tie the Nigerian record jointly held by Yakubu Mambo and Emmanuel Emenike. His fourth consecutive game with at least a goal currently has him tied with six players – Segun Odegbami, Obafemi Martins, Sunday Oyarekhua, Paul Hamilton, Rashidi Yekini, and Ikechukwu Uche.

      The Nigerian win in Ndola was Nigeria's first win over Zambia on Zambian soil after 8 tries.

3   The win over Zambia is Nigeria’s fourth consecutive victory. If Nigeria wins the next game, it would tie the country’s second best record set under Shuaibu Amodu in 2001. The Nigerian record of six consecutive victories is also held by a team coached by Shuaibu Amodu in 2008.

4   Brown Ideye’s assist on Iheanacho's goal against Zambia was his fifth for the national team in 28 games. He also has 6 goals. Ideye’s assist total ranks third among players in the current squad that played in Zambia. Mikel at 13 and Ahmed Musa at 9 have made more assists but Ideye’s assists per game (0.19) is the second best among everyone else who has played at least 10 games. The only player with a better ratio of assists is Nosa Igiebor at 0.20. However, even Nosa at .20 is really low as it represents just one assist in five games!