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See what Nigerians are saying about the 'angry' penalty taken by Ekong as Super Eagles beat Ivory Coast.
At the Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday, Nigeria defeated Ivory Coast 1-0 thanks to a penalty kick in the second half by William Troost-Ekong.
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05:20 - 18.01.2024
AFCON 2023: Jay-Jay Okocha motivates wasteful Super Eagles to beat Ivory Coast
Jay-Jay Okocha motivates wasteful Super Eagles to beat Ivory Coast in AFCON 2nd group game.
This result put pressure on the host nation, whose chances of making it to the round of 16 are still in jeopardy.
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06:15 - 18.01.2024
AFCON 2023: Ivory Coast coach expects Super Eagles to provide tough test
Ivory Coast coach Jean-Louis Gasset expects a tough AFCON clash against the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Ekong is the hero for the Super Eagles against Ivory Coast
Ten minutes into the second half at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium in Abidjan, Captain Troost-Ekong of the Greek side PAOK scored from the spot after Victor Osimhen was confirmed to be brought down in the box following a VAR check.
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The Super Eagles began their AFCON attempt with a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea, but they hung on to capture their first win in Group A in front of a wild crowd.
At the top of the group section, Nigeria are tied on four points with Equatorial Guinea while Ivory Coast trailing them on three, and Guinea-Bissau is already out after losing their opening two games.
Nigeria needs only to avoid losing to Guinea-Bissau to secure a top-two finish.
Reactions to Ekong and Osimhen
The Super Eagles of Nigeria dominated the social media trends following the win against Ivory Coast.
Nigerian football fans praised certain players for their efforts in the game against the host nation.
Napoli striker Victor Osimhen won the penalty and put in a decent shit for 87 minutes before his substitution for Paul Onuachu.
After the game, Osimhen was selected as the Man of the Match by the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF).
Nigerian football fans believe that the African football governing body got the award wrong.
They took to social media to state as to why William Troost-Ekong should have won the award.
See reactions below
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Super Eagles target knockout stages
49,517 people attended the game, a far larger audience than for the hosts' opening game when there were controversies over the number of vacant seats in the 60,000-seat stadium.
The Elephants are the first host country to lose an AFCON group stage encounter since Equatorial Guinea, who shared hosting duties with Gabon in 2012, lost 1-0 to Zambia, despite the festive mood.
Nigeria managed to hold on for nine extra minutes to win the first AFCON match between the two teams since a quarterfinal in 2013, the year they last won the championship.
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