14th January, 2024
By Paul Dada
The Super Eagles of Nigeria could not fly past the Nzalanga Nacional of Equatorial Guinea on Sunday at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan in their African Cup of Nations opener as they were held to a 1-1 draw by the Central African side.
Although the Super Eagles dominated in the first 30 minutes of the game, it was their opponents that first found the back of the net via a strike by Iban Salvador in the 36th minute.
CAF African Player of the year and Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen eqaulised for Nigeria two minutes later. But the stalemate remained until half time.
Nigeria mounted offensives many times in the second half but wasted many chances of doubling their number of goals. One of the most remarkable missed scoring opportunities came in the 75th minute when Osimhen had only the Equatorial Guinean keeper, Jesus Owono to contend with. His shot simply went by the side of the goal post.
Nigeria’s next match will be face hosts, Cote D’Ivoire on Thursday.