A second-half brace from Leicester City forward Ahmed Musa earned the Super Eagles their first points of the competition and earned the 23-man squad a whopping $345,000.

Initially, each player of the Super Eagles was due $10,000 for a win at the tournament but the Nigerian federal government increased the win bonus to $15,000 to motivate them to win their remaining Group D matches after they lost to Croatia in their opening game Saturday.

Making the increase known, the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, also called on Nigerians to continue to support the team

“It is unfortunate that we did not win, which would have served as a morale booster at the group stage, but we will not lose hope.

“The federal government is doing its best to ensure that the Super Eagles excel in Russia. Even President Muhammadu Buhari took time out to motivate the players yesterday [Saturday] and to assure them of his unflinching support for the team,” Dalung said.

“I personally added $5,000 to their winning bonus to motivate the team, but we must still keep our hopes alive because this is just the beginning.

“I urge the players to remain focused while the technical department will have to put heads together with the coach to salvage our next two matches against Iceland and Argentina. If we win our next matches against Iceland and Argentina, then we can qualify from the group,” Dalung added.

Before the increase in winning bonus was announced by the Sports Minister, an energy company and one of the major sponsors of the Super Eagles, Aiteo group had also promised them a cash bonus.

Aiteo promised the Super Eagles a $50,000 reward should the team win any of its three matches without conceding any goal.

Nigeria will play their final group game against Argentina on Tuesday at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in St. Petersburg, Russia.