The Super Eagles (senior men’s national team) on Sunday failed to win its first match of the 2023 Africa Cup Of Nations AFCON fixture against Equatorial Guinea npflupdates.com reports.
Nigeria was shockingly held to a one-all draw by Equatorial Guinea at the Ebimpe Stadium Abidjan.
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It was a keenly contested fixture, with supposedly match underdogs Equato-Guinea being the first to score through an Ivan Salvador’s strike in the 36th minute.
Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen was quick to restore parity by heading home a cross from winger Ademola Lookman.
Goal-scoring chances presented itself much later in the second period of the game, but neither sides capitalized on their chances; as the game ended with both sides sharing the spoils.
Super Eagles fail to win first 2023 AFCON fixture
Three important things can be taken away from the Super Eagles opener as they hope to win against Ivory Coast on Thursday.
First, with the draw against Equatorial Guinea, the Super Eagles are yet to win of its last four games. Drawing two(Lesotho and Zimbabwe during world cup qualifying fixtures last year), and losing an international friendly against Guinea in Abu Dhabi last Monday.
Second, with his goal against Equato-Guinea, Victor Osimhen is now Nigeria’s joint third top scorer for men with 21 goals. He share the spot with former forward Yakubu Aiyegbeni.
Third, Nigeria is now third in its Group A behind leaders Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea. And this is the first in history, that Equato-Guinea will secure a point against Nigeria in any competitive fixture.
José Peseiro and his boys are expected to keep the disappointing result behind them and focus on the task ahead(Ivory Coast).
In another story, Jesus Owono, Equato-Guinea goalkeeper who won the Man-Of-The-Match (MOTM) award revealed the reason they were able to get a point from Nigeria.
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According to the Deportivo Alaves shot-stopper, his side were never scared of Nigeria and it’s powerhouses. He stressed that, the union of their team was what made difference.
“We were not scared of Nigeria. The union of a team makes a difference,” he said.
