Nigeria midfielder Alex Iwobi is hopeful that the Super Eagles will rule the continent in the years to come after the side secured the third place at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, Completesports.com reports.
Gernot Rohr’s men beat the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia 1-0 at the Al Salam Stadium Cairo on Wednesday night to pick the bronze medal.
Odion Ighalo who went off injured at half time scored the winning goal in the third minute of the encounter.
It was a big consolation for the West Africans whose hopes of winning a fourth continental crown was quashed by that agonising 2-1 loss to the Desert Foxes of Algeria in the semifinals.
Iwobi, who was appearing in his second major tournament for Nigeria after the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia is elated with the side’s achievement in Egypt.
“It’s a great achievement considering the quality of oppositions in the tournament, 24 teams – especially considering the fact this team is still very young,” Iwobi told reporters after the game.
”I’m sure we can do better than this in the next Africa Cup of Nations.
”I want to say a big thank you to our fans for their support all through competition. We will always do our best for them. ”
By Adeboye Amosu (pix:by Ganiyu Yusuf) in Cairo
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COMMENTS
Thanks for the optimism, Iwobi. All of you poured out sweats and received kicks to your joints for the honour of your country, and you deserve to be commended, though we’re still pained that you ought to have done more to earn the ultimate crown. This will be a soul-searching period for all of you. Those that have nothing to give more should voluntarily pave the way for more competent players in order not to be pelted with sachets of ‘pure water’ by aggrieved fans.
We all look forward to Olympics 2020, AFCON 2021 and World Cup 2022!
That’s the spirit, lad. Come 2021, you guys will be launching a much stronger challenge. As long as we have a good coach in place, our football future is very bright indeed.