Two goals hero, Odion Ighalo says victory for Nigeria is what matters most as the Super Eagles progressed to the quarter-finals stage of the ongoing 2019 Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday.
Second-half goals by Ighalo and Iwobi helped the Gernot Rohr-tutored side to overcome the reigning African champions, Cameroon in an action-packed encounter.
This is also as underdogs; South Africa shocked the soccer world by knocking hosts and Cup favourites, the Pharaohs of Egypt out of the continental soccer carnival. Stuart Baxter’s men defeated host nation Egypt 1-0 in Cairo.
For their efforts in dismissing Cameroon and Egypt, the Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana will now trade tackles for a semi-finals berth in 2019 AFCON. The match comes up on Wednesday, July 10.
Ighalo was the fans’ idol on the day in Alexandria as Nigeria braved all odds to send the Cameroonians packing from the tournament in a hard fought Round of 16 pairing.
Looking back at his heroics against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, Ighalo was full of praise for the team that fought back from 1-2 to advance to the Last 8 round by three goals to two.
The Eagles point man said at the post match interview that his contributions which propelled the Super Eagles to victory over the tournament’s defending champions were all about getting victory for Nigeria rather than amassing personal goal tally.
Aside scoring a brace that lighted the Alexandria Stadium for the teeming Nigerian supporters, the Shanghai Shenhua FC of China striker was also on hand to provide an assist for Alex Iwobi’s match-winning effort late in the second half.
After going ahead deservedly with Ighalo’s 24th minute goal, the Coach Rohr’s men found themselves trailing 2-1 at half-time and the 30-year-old revealed their loss to Madagascar in the Group B final tie motivated the team’s comeback after resumption of play.
According to him, “It does not matter if I or anyone score, winning for Nigeria is what matters most, but I will remember these two goals for a long time, I have lived for a tough period of pressure.
“We did not want to repeat what happened against Madagascar, we prepared well and did our best.
“We conceded two goals in a short time, we could have collapsed, but we tried until we achieved what we wanted.”
With his two strikes against the Lions, Ighalo is now the joint-top scorer at the tournament, alongside Senegal’s Sadio Mane with three goals.
Meanwhile, former Super Eagles Captain, Coach Sunday Oliseh has applauded the Super Eagles’ mental strength in Saturday’s triumph over Cameroon.
Oliseh, who handled the Super Eagles briefly, said the current team can go all the way for their fourth continental crown, after showing so much composure and fighting spirit for the win in Alexandria.
The ex-international tweeted that the “Super Eagles players show strong mental strength to beat Cameroon and qualify for the quarter-finals. Now everything is possible!; Delighted for the boys”.
