Afcon 2021: Nigeria Will Approach Opponents With Egypt Drive – Ola Aina

Afcon 2021: Nigeria Will Approach Opponents With Egypt Drive – Ola Aina

The defending reveals the Super Eagles will take on other opponents at Afcon with the same resolve shown against the Pharaohs

Nigeria will take on their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations opponents with the same application they exhibited against Egypt, according to Ola Aina.

The Super Eagles began their campaign in Cameroon on a flying note, defeating the Pharaohs 1-0 at the Roumde Adjia Stadium in Garoua.

In the African classic, Augustine Eguavoen’s men proved their doubters wrong to down Carlos Queiroz’s men – with Kelechi Iheanacho scoring the only goal.

As Eguavoen’s side prepare to take on Sudan in their next outing on Saturday, the Torino star says the three-time African kings will square up against the Falcons of Jediane and other teams with the same “concentration” and “determination” shown against the seven-time African champions.

“We just take it game by game. This game is gone, and we have to focus on the next game against Sudan,” Aina told GOAL.

“Also, we will go into other games with the same concentration, the same determination as we did [against Egypt].”

The 25-year-old also revelled in seeing his team subdue the Egyptian side that paraded Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny and VFB Stuttgart’s Omar Marmoush on parade from start to finish.

“It is very good to start the tournament this way, I feel the team is very happy to get a win against Egypt,” he continued.

“They are a very tough side, they have got great players and getting our first three points of the tournament against them is very good for us.”

With this result, Nigeria occupy the summit of Group D with three points while the Pharaohs sit at the base of the log.

Victory over Burhan Tia’s men – who held Guinea Bissau to a 0-0 draw on Tuesday – will see Eguavoen’s men book an early slot in the Round of 16 with a game to spare.

Since their Afcon debut at Ghana 1963, the West Africans have made 19 appearances at the finals – reaching the semi-finals 14 times of their last 16 Afcon participation, winning the tournament on three occasions.

In their last outing in the competition (Egypt 2019), Nigeria beat Tunisia 1-0 in the third-place encounter.