By Amaechi Agbo
On the early hours of Thursday, November 11, World Cup-bound Costa Rica bid farewell to home fans with a 2-0 victory over Nigeria in a friendly international
Oscar Duarte’s seventh minute goal was followed by a second from Kendall Waston in the 73rd minute against a Nigerian team without any of their overseas-based regulars and made up mainly of members of their Under-23 team.
However, of particularly interest and attention is Nigeria’s defender, Dominion Ohaka who was the cynosure of all eyes in the encounter at the San Jose National Stadium.
The Water FC of Abuja young lad caught the attention of the spectators where the full back maestro had a superb game against the La Tricolor.
The Home Based Eagles which has a nucleus of U-23 players that recently set Tanzania out of the U-23 Cup of Nations qualifiers with handful of home grown players, were beaten by the Costa Rica in an International friendly in the early hours of Thursday ahead of Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Eagles were initially appeared promising making few incursions before they conceded the first goal at 7 minutes of the game through a set piece which all the defenders were caught flat footed.
Much later, it looked like the Nigerian players were alien to high pressing football as the La Tricolor imposed and subjected them to their game. The Eagles were losing possession and La Tricolor condemned them to their own half.
It took the new found Dominion Ohaka a spark that moved the team from the wing back to the attack and showed plenty of promises in the game.
The Water FC prodigy troubled the Costa Ricans with his mesmerising skills and pacey strength which nearly resulted into a goal but could not meet the right partner to finish the job. Much later, the fair skin player resorted to unleash shots from distance but could not match the needed precision.
The utility player was also noticeable in his skill at tracking back to stop the hosts from causing unwarranted havoc . His unparalleled brilliance attracted the coach of the Costa Ricans, Luiz Fernado Suarez and asked that he wanted to have a snapshot with the Nigerian player.
“Ohaka is a threat to my team and I will like to have a snapshot with such a phenomenon talent. He is going to be a future star the world should watch out for,” the Costa Rica handler enthused.
Dominion Ohaka was one of the standout performers for the Dream Team VIII when they bundled out Tanzania at the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
He followed it up with another magical display for the Super Eagles who lost 2-0 to Costa Rica in an international friendly.
Ohaka ticks the fundamentals for a fullback in this era: good on the ball, can play under pressure and can affect the game higher up the field. He has very good feet and is a skilled dribbler.
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