BURUNDI GAME WAS NOT AN EASY ONE - Mikel Admits
The Super Eagles captain has admitted that
his team were fortunate to find the back of the net against a ‘very organised’
Burundi side
Nigeria captain John Obi Mikel was full of
praise for Burundi’s display in what was a keenly contested Africa Cup of
Nations Group B opener at the Alexandria Stadium.
Olivier Niyungeko’s men produced an inspiring
performance against Nigeria in what was their first ever Afcon match.
Having qualified for the continental
showpiece without a single defeat from a group which had the likes of Mali and
Gabon, the Swallows truly proved in the game that their feat in the qualifiers
wasn’t a fluke.
Their solid defensive wall was, however,
breached in the 77th minute, when Ola Aina found substitute Odion Ighalo in the
box, via a sublime back-heel pass, with the Shanghai Shenhua front man
dispatching with consummate ease.
In his reaction to the game, the Nigeria
captain praised the Afcon debutants and also admitted that the group which
contains Guinea and another tournament newcomer in Madagascar, isn’t an easy
one.
“Yeah, it’s not an easy group, it’s a very
tough group,” Mikel told the media.
“You can see from today – they
[Burundi] are a very organized team, very tough to break down. We were lucky to
get the goal.
“I think we played well. We had most of the
ball, but we couldn’t break them down – we couldn’t get the goal. So it was
very crucial for us to get these three points today."
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