'Blame Osimhen' : Nigerians lament missed chance as Super Eagles draw Equatorial Guinea in AFCON opener

The Super Eagles of Nigeria recorded a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea in their opening group game of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d'Ivoire.

After the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire recorded a 2-0 win against Guinea Bissau, the Super Eagles of Nigeria were under pressure to get a maximum of three points.

The Super Eagles started the game well and almost went in front but Zaidu Sanusi missed an open goal.

Equatorial Guinea were able to string some passes together to get into the game.

In the 36th minute, Alex Iwobi was dispossessed, and Ivan Salvador capitalized to score Equatorial Guinea's first goal, provided by José Machín.

The lead did not last for long as just two minutes later Victor Osimhen latches on to a cross by Ademola Lookman for the equaliser.

Head Coach Jose Peseiro made the changes in the second half, but they had no impact as Equatorial Guinea forced the Super Eagles to a draw.

The conversation about the Super Eagles' was spearheaded by Osimhen and Nigerians took to social media to give their thoughts on the reigning CAF Player of the Year.

Despite Osimhen scoring the only goal for the Super Eagles, Osimhen was subjected to abuse by some Nigerian football fans.

The Napoli strike played through on goal in the 77th minute fired wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.

That miss proved to be costly as the Super Eagles were unable to get a late goal to secure three points.

Nigerians were unhappy with Osimhen and made that known through their messages on social media.

Osimhen and the Super Eagles will aim to bounce back when they take on hosts Cote d'Ivoire in their next group game scheduled for Thursday, January 18, 2024.