Ahmed Musa scored a brace as a much-improved Super Eagles defeated Iceland in a Group D World Cup match at the Volgograd Arena on Friday.
Iceland midfielder, Gylfi Sigurdsson, missed a penalty and lost the opportunity to set up a nervy finish to the game.
Musa, after his brace against Iceland, has joined the elite class of players, winning the Budweiser Man of the Match, in the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The 25 year-old Musa with 71 caps for Nigeria, has 13 international goals overall, four of them in the World Cup.
The Nigerian No.7 becomes the second African player to score two World Cup braces, after Roger Milla in 1990.
Musa’s second goal was a fine individual effort as he burst clear of Kari Arnason before rounding Hannes Halldorsson. He composed himself before firing into the net.
Other winners of the Budweiser Man of the Match are Philippe Coutinho(Brazil), Luka Modric(Croatia), Kylian Mbappe(France`), Christian Eriksen(Denmark), Luis Suarez(Uruguay), Cristiano Ronaldo(Portugal), Diego Costa(Spain), Mbaye Niang(Senegal), Denis Cherychev(Russia), Harry Kane(England), Romelu Lukaku(Belgium), Hirving Lozano(Mexico), Aleksandar KOLAROV(Serbia), Yussuf Yurary POULSEN(Denmark), Hannes HALLDORSSON(Iceland), Anrtoine Griezmann(France), Amine Harit(Morocco) and MOHAMED ELSHENAWY(Egypt).
Ronaldo, Coutinho, Cherychev, Modric have won the awards twice for their outstanding performances in the two matches played so far at the tournament..
The Super Eagles will secure a spot in the knockout stage if they can beat Argentina on Tuesday.
The result was also a boost for Lionel Messi’s Argentina, who are now back in the mix in Group D.
