Super Eagles Star Apologises For Algeria Defeat

Nigeria’s striker Odion Ighalo has expressed how sorry the players were for falling short against the Desert Foxes in their AFCON semifinal clash on Sunday.

Algeria went through to the final of Egypt 2019 at the expense of three-time champions, Nigeria.

Two goals for Algeria – a William Troost-Ekong own goal and a late Riyadh Mahrez stunner – sandwiched an Odion Ighalo penalty to hand victory to the North Africans.

The Algerians dominated proceedings for large portions of the game, causing the Super Eagles many problems.

However, Nigeria still competed well and only lost to a late Mahrez free kick.

“It was a difficult game. We were unlucky on the last minute, and they scored. We didn’t play well in the first half, but second half we improved. I think we deserved more than we got today,” Ighalo told newsmen after the game.

“This is football. They got a free-kick and scored. We have to learn from our mistakes and look forward to the third-placed match now.

The forward who plays for Shanghai Shenhua of China apologises to Nigeria fans for the unfortunate defeat.

“To our fans, I want to say we are sorry for this defeat. We gave our best, but it was not enough. We conceded a last minute goal. It was a hard result for us,” appealed the forward who is currently on four Afcon goals.

“We have to keep working hard. We have another game on Wednesday, the third-place match. We hope to win that.”

Nigeria next meet Tunisia, the other beaten semifinalist, in the third place match.

Tags: AFCON Ighalo Nigeria