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Alhassan Yusuf is allayed fears over concerns that he suffered a serious injury in the Super Eagles’ 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea in their opening Group A game at AFCON 2023 on Sunday.
Yusuf made his competitive debut for the Super Eagles as he was named in the starting line-up.
The Royal Antwerp midfielder was one of few Super Eagles players who impressed in the disappointing draw with Equatorial Guinea.
However, Yusuf had to be replaced in the 69th minute by Joe Aribo after going down holding his left thigh.
Also Read: AFCON 2023: Draw Against Super Eagles Not A Big Achievement — Micha
Speaking to journalists in a short video posted on Brila FM’s X, the midfielder said he only suffered cramp.
The Eagles will hope to get their campaign on track when they take on hosts Côte d’Ivoire on Thursday, 18 January.
The Ivorians defeated Guinea-Bissau 2-0 in the opening game of the tournament on Saturday.
25 Comments
I hope so Yusuf, let it just be cramps o! I doubt the ethics and commitment of the other midfielders o!
Aribo just came in for him just switched off the tempo; and we lost momentum. Thank God Yusuf is okay. What a discovery he is!
Good news! It is criminal that this chap has not been invited to the team all this while. Best Nigerian player on the field of play by a mile. The handlers should learn from this and be courageous. If you don’t buy the lottery ticket, you don’t win the lottery. Another good example is Nwabali who showed composure today. Next game, I want to see onyedika. A midfield of onyedika, yusuf and iwobi should really tick. Bring in iheanacho on the right and , moses on the left, change zaidu for bruno and bassey for ajayi and the result could be better. Fortune they say favours the brave.
No even mention Moses here
I cannot agree more. Fantastic submission.
Thank God be strong my brother and battle ready for ivory coast.
Yusuf Alhassan was easily the man of the match for the Super Eagles before he was taken off, no thanks to his injury.
It’s quite a relief that he will be available for the Cote d’Ivoire game. He was such a massive player for the Super Eagles in the middle with his tackles and passing range.
I think it was safe to say that his injury was a big blow to the Super Eagles’.
With the impressive showings he put up today in his first competitive game, one wonders why he’s not been part of the Super Eagles set-up over the years until now. Today, he was the better of the midfield pairs of Iwobi and Onyeka. It looks that most of our England based midfielders are overrated. Safe for Ndidi’s injuries, he might not have been given a call up, which puts question marks on the team’s technical crew and their scouting and recruitment process.
It also follows therefore that Kelechi Nwakali would have made a great addition to the lean midfield of Pesiero if he received a call up.
As it stands, Alhassan Yusuf and Raphael Onyedika have the most minutes played in the current season, better than their England based counterparts, Aribo Joe and Frank Onyeka.
It’s high time, we started looking in the direction of players, particularly midfielders from other leagues with the possibility of assessing them and integrating them into the senior national team.
Fatai Amoo is another youngster, who’s starting picking the minutes at little known Cyprus,we should be considering.
We need to shore up the midfield with new faces who are hungrier and determined. Many of the last under 20 Flying Eagles squad showed promise.
Thank you God. Oluwaseun OOOO!! This guy is exactly what we’ve been missing in our midfield for a long time. Not too flashy but incredibly efficient with a good ball sense. This kid, Onyedika Daga Nnadi and Akinsanmiro are the immediate future of our midfield. He ran his socks off for the green and white today. Maybe we could’ve won if he finished the game. Lẹẹkan si Ẹ Bami Gbọlọhun Tobi. Allahu Akbar!! Fly Like an Eagle into the Future.
Thank God you are ok we cant afford to loose you im this tournament
This guy (Alhasan) is in a different class entirely. He plays like Kanye. The hunger, agility, tenacity, strength and aggression. He’ll go a long way.
Did somebody hear that few players played in the fourth leaque in Cyprus and local leaque of guinea bissau
I’m not surprised because we have a classless coach so we can loose points against any team. He has drawn 3 straight match against lowly ranked teams yet some people want us to accept it. Interesting nation some people are not ashamed because they don’t understand what’s at stake.
Alhassan Yusuf is a very efficient and mobile player. He is Nigeria’s Ngolo Kante for sure. Simple, efficient, energetic and very mobile player
Nobody is even praising the clueless coach for being brave to start Yusuf. Sometimes life is not all about criticisms and abuses and curses. Pesero though you are not the best for Nigeria but you did well for being bold to take a risk on Yusuf and nwabili.
What praise! The coach that didn’t invite him until indidi was injured. Does that look like a serious coach. How can u not include a player like Yusuf in your tournament list in d first place. How?
Praise Peseiro ?
Abeg change gear!
Na Nigeria NGOLO KANTE na em we dey see so.
Ogbonge player.
Keep working hard. You’ve got great potential.
The easy visibility of the EPL is destroying the national team. There are finer and better Nigerian players in other leagues even NPFL but how the coaches celebrate mediocrity by inviting average EPL PLAYERS LEAVES MUCH TO BE DESIRED.
I didn’t know much about this guy until Saturday but boy he was impressive! This is the kind of revelation you get when the old and even young non+performing guards are phased out.
The problem with super eagles is that if you are not playing in the English premier league, you are not rated as a good player. When we keep complaining that we don’t have midfielders i just wonder!!! Wtf has gone wrong with our football administration? Who do us this thing ?We were known as an entertaining team. A trait that had been part of us for ages. How on earth did we lose that trait ? Are you telling me that they’re no longer creative players in Nigeria or foreign leagues aside from premier league? I still believe an addition of kelechi Nwakali to that midfield would’ve given our team an edge but we keep underrating him.I thank God for Yusuf,if there’s anything that gave me joy yesterday was his overall display. I’ve said it and we keep saying it that there’s nothing spectacular about Ndidi. A distinct Midfielder dictates the game. I do not rate any of our midfielder in the English league not even Onyeka. Idk much about Onyedika but i expected the coach to introduce him in today’s match for onyeka but unfortunately he didn’t . Let the coach play him from the start in our next match let’s see him.He might just be a revelation just like Yusuf. The super eagles lack competition that’s why they’re not performing well. We keep recycling the same average players over and over and expect a different result, it’s madness. To be honest Victor Osimhen is not a complete finisher yet hence he needs players like Dressers and others to compete with him but corruption ,favoritism and mediocrity is the bane of the super eagles. How is it possible that since we lost the World Cup ticket to Ghana we still haven’t assemble a better team than what we are presenting at Afcon? NFF should be ashamed of themselves and hide their faces in shame!!! Super Eagles is doomed for failure because whether we like it or not if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.Realistically I’m not expecting anything special from this team hence i do not feel disappointed because you can’t give what you don’t have. A lot is lacking in this team and it’s so obvious unless you’re blind by sentiment.We must call a spade a spade.This super eagles team , do not have the cutting edge , they lack character. You can’t be doing the same thing wrongly and expect a different result , its core madness.Luck is when preparation meets with opportunity.Hence,I’m not expecting anything special from this team unless they opt their game.
Well said brother.
Thank God.
Nigerians are proud of your commitment.
Yussuf alhassan played better football against equatorial guinea which we all saw but I can’t jump into a conclusion of him being the best until after the ivory coast game which he’ll like be up against Jessie and other good midfielders in Africa.
2ndly, I can’t throw it up to him for now because of the wonders he did against E. Guinea, I still remember Joe aribo first game against Ukraine…. He perform wonders and he even followed it up with a superlative performance against Brazil…. After those games we all saw the real aribo till today….. Boy can’t repeat such performance again.
But anyways, kudus to him.
MY OPINION THOUGH
***SHALOM***
This guy (Alhasan) is in a different class entirely. He plays like Kante. The hunger, agility, tenacity, strength and aggression. He’ll go a long way.
Go watch Al-Hassan Yusuf against FC Barcelona last month and you will know how lucky we are to have him. Unfortunately, NFF corruption has prevented this lad from getting invited.