Nigeria came into the match beaming with some confidence with African Footballer of The Year, Victor Osimhen leading the attack.
Super Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw by the Elephants of Equatorial Guinea on Sunday in their opening AFCON match held in Ivory Coast.
Nigeria came into the match beaming with some confidence with African Footballer of The Year, Victor Osimhen leading the attack.
Despite injuries to Victor Boniface, Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Sadiq Umar, they began the match in a spritely manner with Victor Oshimhen in the 4th-minute shooting wide after a mistake from Equatorial Guinea’s keeper.
Stanley Nwabali was preferred to Francis Uzoho in goal after the latter had come under heavy criticism of late.
Jose Peserios’s men kept the momentum going and the Napoli forward came close again after the opposition goalkeeper parried a low shot but the linesman raised the flag to rule him off.
The Elephants would maintain their discipline at the back and stun Nigeria in the 37th minute courtesy of Iban Salvador. who calmly found the back of the net with a brilliant finish beating Stanley Nwabali
Super Eagles would react almost immediately after Alex Iwobi found Osimhen with a cross to level the match.
Moses Simon tried his luck in added time of the first half with a shot at the keeper’s near post, and Owono was in a defiant mood s usual to keep the scores level going into the second half.
The second half began almost as Nigeria ended the first when a golden chance was flopped after Osimhen and Lookman got in each other’s way.
Nigeria kept piling up the pressure but Owono kept up his heroics
In the 67th -minute, Alhassan Yusuf who was having a bright debut in the middle of the field ended up being carried off on a stretcher.
Peserio would bring on Joe Aribo and Samuel Chukwueze for Yusuf and Simon to add some bite to the Nigerian attack.
With limited chances for both sides, Osimhen would get miss a glorious chance for the Super Eagles to take the lead as he horribly pulled a right-footed shot well wide of the near post. in the 76-minute.
The Elephants would keep up with their resolute defence to get a vital draw against the 2013 champions.
4 things we learnt as Super Eagles fail to win
Nigeria were held to a 1-1 draw by Equatorial Guinea in their opening 2023 Africa Cup of Nations game on Sunday.
Ivan Salvador opened the scoring with a fine finish to stun the Super Eagles.
But the three-time Africans were level within two minutes, with Victor Osimhen rising highest to head home Ademola Lookman’s cross.
There were no goals in the second half of the game.
So, what are the four things we learnt from the encounter?
1. Equatorial Guinea are no pushovers: Juan Micha’s men have a track record of being giant killers. And they almost shocked the Super Eagles today. They face Guinea-Bissau next and could be top of Group A by the time Ivory Coast vs Nigeria kicks off.
2. Nigeria face an uphill task: The Eagles did not look like a serious team against Equatorial Guinea. It does not help that they face the hosts in their second game. A poor result against the Elephants, and the alarm bells will be loudly ringing amid the possibility of an early exit.
3. Peseiro is still tactically limited: Again, Jose Peseiro looked tactically inept, as he failed to either inspire his players or make game-changing substitutions. Nigeria looked like a badly coached team, bereft of ideas and a will to win.
4. Osimhen has to do better: Most of the Super Eagles’ hopes lay squarely on the shoulders of Victor Osimhen. And although the Napoli striker levelled the scores, he missed gilt-edged chances that would have secured all three points. Osimhen has two more fixtures to live up to his billing as the team’s talisman.
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