National Teams
“You think I’m missing AFCON final?” — Ola Aina reveals tricky tactics to play with injury
By: Monsurah Olatunji
Nigeria international Ola Aina has revealed that he played the final while nursing an injury that impacted his game at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
The 27-year-old full-back had a terrible final performance, as Brighton winger Simon Adingra gave him the runaround.
Unable to cope with his pace and trickery, the 22-year-old winger completed five dribbles on the night and set up Franck Kessie’s 81st-minute winner after beating Aina.
In a recent chat with fellow Super Eagles star Alex Iwobi, the Nottingham Forest defender praised Adingra’s prowess and also noted how he tricked his former boss, Jose Peseiro into playing him despite the injury.
“Let me set this record straight. Give it to my man who done [sic] his thing with the assist, [Simon] Adingra. He’s a baller.
“[But] Man was playing on one leg. You think I’m missing AFCON final? I even see people cursing the coach. It wasn’t the coach’s fault. He asked me ‘do you think you can play?’ Of course, I told him I can play.
“It’s the AFCON final I don’t know if I’m going to make it there again. I need to play. So I tried to manage, and I didn’t manage.”
The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has come and gone but revelations keep coming to light surrounding the hazardous defeat suffered by the Nigeria national team.
Considered favourite to win the gong following an impressive run to the final, the Super Eagles bowed to a 2-1 defeat against the host, Cote d’Ivoire, who qualified as one of the best losers.
Meanwhile, it was the closest that Nigeria has come to winning the AFCON since 2013 and the first time that the Super Eagles lost the final of the competition since being beaten by Cameroon on home soil in 2000.
