Nigeria began their campaign at the Africa Cup of Nations with a slim 2–1 victory over Tanzania at the Fez Stadium on Tuesday.
Despite the victory, former Nigeria U-23 goalkeeper Cornelius Gopar in an exclusive interview with Footy-Africa expressed belief that the team has the potential to do more than they showed.
Gopar, who is now a goalkeeper coach with an NPFL side, admitted that opening games are often difficult, even though he expected a better performance from the team.
“I am happy we won, but I cannot say the same about the performance of the team against the Tanzanians,” he exclusively told Footy-Africa after the game. “Most times, first games at tournaments are usually tough, so I am not surprised. Again, Tanzania came with a game plan to sit back and hit on the counter-attack, and that is how they got their goal. I really expected a lot from the boys, but the urgency was not there for long periods of the game. We kept it slow in transition, which suited the Tanzanians as they were able to quickly organise their low block.”
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“In the end, our quality, individual quality, gave us the three points, but there are going to be more difficult games against Tunisia and Uganda. I know we will improve with each game, and I hope the coach will also find a way to get the players to gel together. As a coach myself, I do not want to criticise the coach too much, but he needs to understand his players and where they play best. It is very important so that we can get the best out of them,” he added.
Semi Ajayi’s header in the 36th minute gave Nigeria the lead as the first half ended in favour of the Super Eagles.
Barely a minute into the restart, Victor Osimhen thought he had doubled Nigeria’s advantage, but his effort was ruled offside. Tanzania immediately responded at the other end, catching the Super Eagles’ defence napping as Charles M’Mombwa got to the end of a long ball from deep to score past Nwabali for the equaliser..
Nigeria restored their lead barely two minutes after conceding, with Ademola Lookman rifling home a stunning strike to put the Eagles back in front. There were no further goals in the encounter as Nigeria claimed their first three points of the tournament.
