Super Eagles fail to soar in Equatorial Guinea draw

The Super Eagles of Nigeria commenced their AFCON 2023 campaign with a 1-1 draw against underdogs Equatorial Guinea, in the concluding first round of games in Group A.

The opening minutes of the encounter were inundated with a series of missed chances from the Super Eagles, as Zaidu Sanusi missed a sitter to put his side ahead, having failed to grab the opportunity presented to them in the 11th minute.

However, the Elefantes grabbed the game’s opener against the run of play in the 36th minute, as Iván Salvador rendered Stanley Nwabili motionless with his brilliant finish before Nigeria remarkably found their equalizer two minutes later.

2023 CAF Footballer of the Year, Victor Osimhen rose to convert a trademark header from Ademola Lookman’s splendid delivery to send the game level into the break.

The three times African champion came all out in the second half bubbling with the prospect of earning a comeback, but spurned a couple of chances, as Jesús Owono brilliantly denied Sanusi and Osimhen from a one-on-one position before the Equatorial Guinea goalkeeper kept his side in the game yet again by making a smart save off Ola Aina’s strike to take his number of saves in the match to five.

✅ OFFICIAL: Equatorial Guinea goalkeeper Jesus Owono Ngua named Man of the Match. 🇬🇶

🧤 6 interventions
🥅 5 saved shots from the penalty area
⭐ MVP of the match
📊 Rating 8.3 by SofaScore

LIFELINE ✨#AfconWithOltSports #AFCON2024 #AFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/6HiLUGOuas

— Olt Sports (@oltsport_) January 14, 2024

The Super Eagles had another opportunity at goal, but it wasn’t to be Osimhen’s best moment, as the Napoli’s striker wasted the West African giant’s last goalscoring opportunity in the game—initiating a record of failing to pick up all maximum points against Equatorial Guinea for the time in an international tournament.

The draw extends the Elefantes’ unbeaten record in all competitions to seven matches, while the Super Eagles have failed to win any of their last four games.

Come Thursday, the Super Eagles will be looking forward to a better outing against Cote d’Ivoire who currently sits atop Group A with three points after defeating Guinea-Bissau 2-0 in the competition’s opener yesterday.