Nigeria are into the final four of AFCON 2023 after another defensively resilient performance against Angola – a 1-0 win that made it over four matches without conceding a goal in the tournament. Nigeria are now odds-on favourites to win the competition after being less than fancied in the build up to the tournament.
We spoke to AFCON 1994 winner and Bet9ja Ambassador Victor Ikpeba after the match for his reaction to The Super Eagles’ latest triumph.
Find out how to win a share of 20 Million NGN as we enter the business end of AFCON!
We’re not conceding goals and playing with confidence
Since the first match against Equatorial Guinea we haven’t concedd a single goal and honestly haven’t conceded many chances either. It’s so good to see and it means that our attack can play with no pressure because they’re confident in only needing to score one chance in order to win the game.
Angola are a dangerous side and we limited them to minimal chances. Moses Simon and Ademola Lookman really impressed me – Simon wasn’t on his best form in the first few matches but his brilliant run set up Lookman’s goal.
Ademola Lookman has really stood up to be counted in the knockout stages. He’s in amazing form at the moment and looks calm with his finishing. Opposition defences will know that they won’t be able to give him a sight of goal in any upcoming matches.
There is a feel good factor around the team now
Before the tournament there wasn’t a lot of hype around our team but a mixture of strong performances and other big sides being knocked out of the tournament now means that we’re in pole position to win the whole tournament.
The boys will be aware of the risks that playing any team in this tournament comes with, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll play within ourselves. We know that we have enough quality, depth and experience in this side in all areas of the team to beat anyone. Tournament football isn’t about how you start, it’s about how you finish – and the difference in the team from our first group match to now is like night and day.
Bet on more than 200 markets at Bet9ja as Nigeria face South Africa on Wednesday!
1 Comment
by Yusuf
I’m interested