Nigerians afraid for Super Eagles AFCON hopes after Côte d'Ivoire destroys Guinea-Bissau

On Saturday, January 13, 2023, a full Stade Alhassane Ouattara in Abidjan watched the hosts Ivory Coast's successful opening to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

In a back-and-forth encounter the hosts did enough to defeat Group A rivals Guinea-Bissau 2-0.

Les Éléphants, who were not at their best faced minimal opposition from Os Djurtus.

They took the lead in the first five minutes through a curled attempt from JanuaSeko Fofana and doubled it in the second half through a goal from Jean-Philippe Krasso.

The Ivorians did not put up a very strong fight; instead of crushing their opponents as was predicted, they let them linger around for much of the game.

On Thursday, the highly anticipated second group encounter between the hosts and the Super Eagles of Nigeria will take place, while Guinea-Bissau will play Equatorial Guinea.

Victory for Côte d'Ivoire means that they top the group stage with three points.

It puts pressure on the Super Eagles of Nigeria to beat Equatorial Guinea in their opening game.

Nigerian football fans took to social media to express a high degree of concern about the Super Eagles of Nigeria AFCON hopes.

Nigerians believe that Côte d'Ivoire showed depth in their squad and quality all around to cause trouble for the Super Eagles.

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Coach Jose Peseiro has insisted that the team can advance all the way to Cote d'Ivoire, despite the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) assigning them a semifinal target.

However, injuries to important players Wilfred Ndidi, Victor Boniface, and Sadiq Umar have severely damaged the team's chances.

They kick off their campaign on Sunday in Nigeria time at 3 p.m. against Equatorial Guinea.