Nigeria lost 3-2 to Egypt in an international friendly match played in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates on Thursday evening.
The Super Eagles scored through Sunday Mba and Kalu Uche while the Pharaohs got their goals thanks to Ahmed Temsah, Mohammed Aboutreika and Ahmed Hassan Mekki.
The two teams played the match as part of a rebuilding process after they both missed out on the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Coaches Stephen Keshi and Bob Bradley fielded squads made up entirely of local-based players.
Warri Wolves’ Mba opened the scoring for the Nigerians on 14 minutes before Temsah got the Pharaohs back into the game eleven minutes later.
Al Ahly’s Aboutreika put the Egyptians ahead on 33 minutes before Enyimba’s Uche got on the end of an Ejike Uzoenyi pass to send both teams into the dugout on equal terms.
Both coaches made changes in the second half as the game looked to be heading for a draw. However, the Egyptians nicked victory in added time through Mekki to break the hearts of the Nigerians to echo their 3-1 victory at the 2010 Afcon in Angola.
Nigeria will play another friendly match against Peru ahead of their 2013 Afcon qualification match against Rwanda in June. Nigeria also have 2014 World Cup qualifiers against Namibia and Malawi in the same month.