Samuel Chukwueze says that scoring his first international goal for Nigeria in Wednesday’s 2-1 win against South Africa in their quarterfinal encounter at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nation was a dream come true for him, reports Completesports.com.
Chukwueze scored the opening goal in the 27th minute to ensure Nigeria led going into the break.
The Villareal Winger was on song for the Super Eagles as he followed up on his deflected shot and slotted in beyond the reach of Ronwen Williams in the South African goal.
And Chukwueze expresses how much the goal means to him and the entire nation.
“It is a dream come true for me to score my first international goal for my country in a big match like this,” Chukwueze told Completesports.com after the game.
“Aside from winning the U-17 World Cup title, this is one moment I will cherish for the rest of my country.
“I know people back home are happy with our win here and it’s good to contribute to the success of the team.”
The Super Eagles will face the winner of the Algeria versus Cote d’Ivoire quarterfinal tie in the semifinal. The match takes place today (Thursday) at the Suez Stadium from 5pm, Nigerian time.
By Adeboye Amosu (pix: by Ganiyu Yusuf) in Cairo
24 Comments
Congratulations to Nigerians. Special thanks to the Super Eagles, Chukwueze is a player that always brings fighting spirit to the team he’s just an extral ordinary player.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/evertons-fresh-henry-onyekuru-headache-16563125
Gernot Rohr has successfully Ruined Onyekuru’s Career.
Can you see their selfish interests…?
Henry Onyekuru’s career is more important to them than the tactical balance we need to win AFCON.
So if Onyekuru doesnt play at everton or in England he will never have a fulfilled career.
Im sure even Henry himself will value being an African champion than a work permit.
The players career is not ruined, suggesting it is is just being over dramatic.
If you read the link you’d see that the reason he is not able to play in England is because he does not qualify for a work permit and will not do so for a good two years.
It was not Rohr that stopped him going to the World Cup, it was the Anderlecht manager. Onyekuru has been given playing time by the Nigeria coach in the AFCON qualifiers as well as in warm. Up games, but now the primary target is Success for the country and individual targets are secondary to the national target.
Henry is still at the beginning of his career and suggesting that his career is successfully ruined because he was not given playing time at AFCON (one tournament) is a gross exhaggeration.
Nigeria s can be over dramatic sometimes and this is a prime example
And to think it was because of Moses Simon. SAD!!!
Sharrap. Didn’t you see the goal instigated by Moses?
Some people say Nigerian Coach is not good and label Super Eagle as an underdog.
Congratulations Super Eagle.
Am happy for u my son samu,many more goals will follow ok?.just be ur self.forget about those fools in this site that is talking out of point,a post on samu and this mad @udene iwunze is talking something else,people can be stupid oo
@Ubah your life is stupid! Lol
Bia @Udene iwunze am sure u havent visit ur village for long that is why u dont have respect to ur elders,people like me and @dr drey with @Ayphillydegreat and other wise men in this forum,anyway may God bless u
Nwa God you try better than Victor Mose
Is it not important for some fans on this page to learn that it is better to be pragmatic in approach and diplomatic in talks but get the job done on the pitch than to boast swelling words and lose your matches.
Many of these fans accuse Gernot Rohr of tactical ineptitude because according to them, he lacks confidence in the way he talks. They want him to roar and boast that super eagles will demolish their opponents and go on to lift the trophy. For them, being tactically savvy as a coach means to be over confident and boastful of what your players will do. They cited examples of Tanzania’s coach, our own very Emmanuel Amuneke and South Africa’s Stuart Baxter. Emmanuel Amuneke is home with Tanzania and Baxter has been sent home by the Rohr some of these fans berate.
You can’t even see them when we win. They are waiting for “I said it” moments. It is very easy to be a naysayers. Being among naysayers makes you feel you’re right.
The same people who castigated Keshi and asked for foreign coach are still the ones who wants a local coach and referred to Keshi’s success. I’m surprised some want Siasia and Oliseh and while I don’t have anything against it, these same guys were at the helm and couldn’t deliver in one way or the other. Ro
hr has quietly gone about his duty and achieved on a consistent level. Please allow the man do his job in peace and take your coaching advice to somewhere
….what amazes me is the quiet way Rohr has gone about his job, while delivering results….no noise, no media paprazzi, no controversies, no necessary dramas, no quarrels with star players in his team, no quarrels with his employers, no “re-building’ rhetorics like our coaches have be reverberating since 2002.
Just a quiet, humble and silent achiever giving his enemies the middle finger at every opportunity that presents itself….! Lolz
Samuel Chukwueze,you can get more goals if you can shoot more accurately from outside the box. You really have done us proud and still will do.
Excellent Rohr. A humble coach.
Nigeria 2-1 South Africa
Where are the unbelievers and mockers of the Super Eagles? Can you see the technical abilities of Rohr or you want to say it’s sheer luck! C. Uwaziem, J. Collins and S. Chukwueze were superb.
The Bafana Bafana were forced to play our game. Where are the pacy the Boys the Boys who were turned to babies or banana?
Probably, the next topic will be the Eagles cannot scale the Algeria/Ivory Coast’s hurdle. Well, keep on with your unbelief.
Let those who do not believe in the Super Eagles keep being unbelievers until the Eagles cross the Red Sea and leave them behind. But those of us who believe will cross the Red Sea with our Super Eagles!
Congrats Naija Super Eagles!!
@Drey, lets not be carried away please. Onyekuru is one of the players we have with greatest prospect. I’m a die hard supporter of eagles and a fan of Rohr. But at the same time, we need to be objective. If you read the article and the few responses below, what is destroying Onyekuru’s career presently is not only because he has not played yet, but the fact that they are trying to infer from Rohr’s utterance that they guy is unserious. If his career is at stake and the coach wants to show a bit of empathy, there is nothing that stops the coach from giving him a chance in the so called insignificant match against Magadascar, even a cameo. Please let us be fair. I am sure if Onyekuru is your own brother you will probably have a different disposition.
Relax bro.
Non of us here is with this team in their camps….If the coach says he’s not giving the right attitude, then so be it. If you also have been reading rohr’s interviews, he did say Henry was supposed to feature in the Madagascar match, but things went awfully awry in that game and hence we found ourselves where we weren’t supposed to be. As a result Henry couldn’t feature, bcos our midfield needed serious patching up in that game to avoid further disgrace.
I also would love to see Henry, Osimhen, Uzoho and all the other players who haven’t played yet….but i wont sacrifice our shape, balance and cohesion which we have struggled to sinter as this tournament has progressed ahead of an exhibition.
Even if Onyekuru was my brother, it wont change anything, because i’m not his coach. He should do whatever his boss wants. If his boss says he doesnt show the right attitude, irrespective of what he (henry) thinks, then let him start showing that right attitude. That he hasnt played yet doesn’t mean he will not be useful to the team as the tournament progresses. Ronaldo da lima was on the Brazil bench at USA 94 and didn’t get a single minute, but went on to become a pivotal player in the 96 Olympics and the 98 and 2002 world cups. Emmanuel Amuneke was on the bench throughout Tunisia 94 until he got a surprise inclusion for the final match…the rest is history. Its not every time all 23 players selected for a tournament get to feature. Those who haven’t featured should lend their support to those who are getting the job done…after all, everyone will get the winners medal if the job eventually gets done to the last day.
Good response bro. Keep well.
@Dr. Drey
Good fireworks. These guys keep forgetting that soccer is a team sport, not an individual sport, like boxing. Let them invent their own brand of soccer that will feature 23 players at once, na!
Better talk.
Congratulations Super Eagles of Nigeria and Coach G.Rhor for job well done and wishing the team better results and victory in the semis and finals.
My observations going forward:
1. I wish to salute Etebo for his improvement in free kick taking, wish he should still bring out time in his personal training to perfect that skill, we, your fans, expect a goal from you in this area in the next match.
2. All our wingers/strikers (Musa, Chukwueze, Iwobi and Odion) should train personally to be proficient in using R2 to score goals anywhere (left or right) close to the box. Musa had about 3 clear opportunity to score using this special technique but could not muster it. Don’t give a striker like Mane such opportunity, you will find the ball inside your net in 2 seconds.
3. Players should train in the area of level shot taking close to the box area.
4. G. Rhor kindly bring in Osimhen in 2nd half in place of Odion Ighalo in our next match. Osimhen has pace, skill (one on one situation), can score with his head, has fire shots, resilient finisher and a team player too.
5. Please give Uzoho another chance, he is good at saving one on one situation. See South Africa goal keeper. Pls after this AFCON kindly invite goal keeper Dele Alampusu to compete with others plssssss (He was the golden glove winner at the youth world cup for Nigeria). That talent and skill is still very imminent in him.
6. Kudos to Samuel Chukwueze for your European displays, you were coming to the midfield to pick balls yourself and pushing heavy counter attacks. God bless you bro. Remain humble, courageous and master your R2 skill, more accurate assists and sometimes try to win penalties for your team.
7. How can I not commend Iwobi the gunner, Ndidi Kante, Omeruo the rock (He has greatly improved), Ekong, Collins, Awaziem and Ighalo. Congratulations Super eagles and best of luck!
Pls o, what is R2? Expantiate.
Congratulations super eagles. We’re proud of you guys. Chukwueze play the same style with Ajden Rouben you brought balance to the team. keep it up you have a great future ahead of you. Troost ekong you have scored the famous goal Just like Alex Iwobi scored against Cameron. Nigerians will never forget this goals. I wish you guys good luck. Good bless Nigeria.