Nigeria were beaten to a 1-1 draw by Equatorial Guinea in their opening 2023 Africa Cup of Nations encounter on Sunday.
Ivan Salvador opened the scoring with a superb finish to startle the Super Eagles.
But the three-time African champions were level within two minutes, with Victor Osimhen leaping highest to head home Ademola Lookman’s cross.
There were no goals in the second half of the game.
So, what are the four things we learnt from the encounter?
- Equatorial Guinea are no pushovers: Juan Micha’s troops have a track record of being gigantic killers. And they almost shocked the Super Eagles today. They face Guinea-Bissau next and may be top of Group A by the time Ivory Coast vs Nigeria takes off.
- Nigeria face an uphill task: The Eagles did not appear like a serious team against Equatorial Guinea. It does not help that they face the hosts in their second game. A terrible result against the Elephants, and the alarm bells will be loudly ringing amid the threat of an early exit.
- Peseiro is still tactically limited: Again, Jose Peseiro seemed tactically clueless, as he failed to either encourage his players or make game-changing adjustments. Nigeria looked like a weakly coached team, short of ideas and a determination to win.
- Osimhen has to do better: Most of the Super Eagles’ aspirations lay entirely on the shoulders of Victor Osimhen. And although the Napoli striker levelled the scores, he wasted gilt-edged chances that would have secured all three points. Osimhen has two more fixtures to live up to his role as the team’s talisman.
