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Nigeria opened their AFCON 2023 account with a draw against Equatorial Guinea, leaving them with just one point.
The game which was controlled and dominated by Jose Peseiro’s men could only end in a frustrating 1-1 draw.
Equatorial Guinea opened the scoring in the 36th minute of the first half before top striker Victor Osimhen levelled the score at the restart.
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17:17 - 14.01.2024
Osimhen 1-0 Salah: Super Eagles star takes early lead in AFCON 2023 Golden Boot race
Victor Osimhen scored for Nigeria in the 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea to open a lead on Egypt's Mohamed Salah in the Golden Boot race.
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17:05 - 14.01.2024
'Blame Osimhen' : Nigerians lament missed chance as Super Eagles draw Equatorial Guinea in AFCON opener
According to Nigerian football fans, despite scoring Osimhen is a "fraud', fails to show why he is the CAF Player of the Year.
Many talking points were pinpointed from the three-time African champions' performance which caused them to struggle in the game.
With the Super Eagles playing a draw in their first AFCON game, we look at five things we observed in the game.
1. Quality team performance
It's been a long time since fans have seen the Super Eagles have played free-flowing and controlled football.
Jose Peseiro’s men did a good job controlling the game and limiting the opposition from posing any threat.
The Super Eagles were comfortable confidently playing the ball and created chances during the game.
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2. Shaky defence
Despite the Super Eagles controlling the game, the defence still had a lot of worries and some shaky moments.
Miscommunication and ball-watching from the defence led them to concede the first goal in the game.
Peseiro needs to work on building the confidence of his defenders and their composure when with the ball.
They need to know when to release the ball and avoid putting themselves in a panic situation at the back.
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3. Great debut for AlHassan Yusuf
One of the best players on the pitch before being substituted in the second half was Royal Antwerp star AlHassan Yusuf.
The midfielder was composed and coordinated the link-up play between the midfield and the attack.
The 23-year-old showed his quality on the ball, off the ball and his defensive abilities. He was all over the field and making sure the Super Eagles kept controlling the game.
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4. Lack of intensity
One of the issues the Super Eagles need to learn from is their lack of intensity when it matters most in a game.
With the game heading to its 90th minute, the team need to dig deep and add more intensity to their game.
Jose Peseiro needed his team to dig deep to grind out the result but their lack of intensity deprived them of taking the game at the scruff of the neck.
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5. Wasted chances
The Super Eagles were very wasteful against Equatorial Guinea with several chances going begging in the game.
Nigeria played 19 shots and could only score one goal. They also had seven shots on target and missed seven big chances.
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The likes of Osimhen, Moses Simon and Ademola Lookman need to be clinical in front of goal if they need to go far in this tournament.
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