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By Anthony Nlebem.
Super Eagles midfielder, Alex Iwobi, claimed that Nigeria’s 1-0 win over Guinea-Bissau in the return fixture of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match played on Monday at the Estadio 24 de Setembro was a very difficult game.
The Wild Dogs defeated Nigeria 1-0 in the first leg of the 2023 AFCON qualifying match played at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja on Friday, but the Eagles fought back to earn a win in Bissau.
Bright Osayi-Samuel won a penalty that was coolly converted by Moses Simon to put Nigeria in front in the first half.
Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, who has been firing goals for the Parthenopeans, and Villareal’s Samuel Chukwueze could not convert chances in the first half as Nigeria pushed for the second goal.
The Djurtus looked dangerous as they did in the first leg in Abuja but could not break the Eagles’ defence line.
Speaking in his post-match comment, the 26-year-old midfielder, who has made 58 caps for Nigeria, expressed joy the team got the needed win while noting that it was a very difficult game in Bissau.
“It was a very difficult game, we knew it was not going to be easy playing away from home, “ Iwobi said.
“Guinea-Bissau wanted to defend what they have, but we were able to get the one goal that we needed, they came out from their defence and try to attack us, but we were resilient and able to keep the clean sheet.
“And we know that if we are able to keep the clean sheet, we have to attack them. It was nice that we were able to get a goal from a penalty to keep the win.
“Obviously, you never know, football can change at any given moment and we could not be complacent. We have seen the threat they have up front.”
The Everton star urged Nigerians not to lose faith in the team noting that he and his teammates will fly Nigeria flag high.
“I am not going to say it was 100 per cent at the back, but I trust my teammates. if we kept up all the good work, kept on fighting till the end and were able to get the result.
“I will tell the fans to keep on supporting us because we are fighting for the nation and we try to make sure that we make them proud.”
The Eagles returned to the top of Group A of the qualifiers with nine points after four games, while Guinea-Bissau are second with seven points, and Sierra Leone, who beat Sao Tome and Principe 2-0 on Wednesday, are third with five points.
The next round of the 2023 AFCON qualifiers is in June when Nigeria travel to Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau take on bottom-place Sao Tome and Principe.