… We want to put things right against Cote d’ivoire, Iwobi adds
Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro says his side deserved to win their opening day match versus Equatorial Guinea at the ongoing 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Eagles filed out against the Equatoguineans last Sunday at the Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan, with high expectations of getting a comfortable win to start strong.
However, they fell short of the expectations after playing out a frustrating 1-1 draw with their opponents, in a match they conceded first.
Iban Salvador Edu broke through for Equatorial Guinea with the opening goal before Victor Osimhen headed in the equalizer minutes later.
The pulsating game finished with the two sides sharing the spoils despite the Nigerian team caving out a couple of scoring chances, but failed to convert them.
In a post on his verified Facebook account, Peseiro highlighted his team’s style of play, dominated by their organization, though, they could not get the job done.
“We played a good game and deserved to win, supported by our organization and style of play, offensive and dominating, creating several goal opportunities,” the post read.
“The result was not what we wanted, and now the important thing is to keep the faith, the strength, and the focus, knowing that the various goal opportunities we created will naturally be materialize.”
After the disappointing outing, Nigeria will be up against hosts Côte d’Ivoire in a nut-cracking encounter on Thursday, January 18th, with hopes of securing a win to get back on tracks at the AFCON.
In the meantime, Peseiro has confirmed that new kid on the block, Alhassan Yusuf will be missing in action against the Ivorians; The combative midfielder who had a brilliant individual performance on his debut last Sunday, picked up an injury which has ruled him out of the big one on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi is expecting the best result for his team when they tackle hosts Côte d’Ivoire in a tough encounter on Thursday.
The Eagles have got a blockbuster game against the hosts and they are condemned to win to bounce off a shaky start, after a 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea.
Iwobi who started the opening match against the Equatoguineans, but did not give a good account of himself, is optimistic that the Nigerian team can get it right against the Ivorians.
The Fulham midfielder says the Eagles have a game plan and if executed, he is sure they will get a positive result from the fixture.
“Considering the result we got against Equatorial Guinea, we want to make sure we put things right,” Iwobi said on Soccernet
“Of course, it would be a big message if we are able to beat the hosts. We know it’s not going to be easy, but we have a game plan, and hopefully, we can get a result that favours us.”
The two teams met last at the quarterfinals of the 2013 edition in South Africa where Nigeria won 2-1 en route to winning their third continental title.
