AFCON 2021: Iheanacho calls on African countries to show class in order to prove point

The European clubs have tried to stop the African showpiece from going on, but Iheanacho believes that the competition is not a pushover

Super Eagles and Leicester City forward has called on all African teams to prove their quality when the African Cup of Nations kicks off in January.

Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of shenanigans, mainly from Europe, with most clubs calling for the postponement of Africa’s biggest event.

Even though it is just nine days to the tournament, the bickering has not stopped, and as time goes on, it seems as though the European club sides are making purposeful efforts to prevent their players from representing their countries. An example of such a case is Emmanuel Dennis‘.

However, Leicester City man Iheanacho believes that Africa deserves better and can prove that they deserve better by showing quality on the pitch.

“We need to keep doing what we’re doing and do our best and keep showing the world that Africa deserves more and there are more opportunities for good footballers over there,” Iheanacho told Talksports.

“Our competition needs to be looked at as well but I think we need to prove with our play that our competition is underrated by doing extraordinary things on the pitch, by scoring goals, by performing really well so when we do that it will speak for itself.”

Nevertheless, it does not seem like Iheanacho’s statements will end anything anytime soon because the European clubs’ major bone of contention is that the AFCON falls at the time of the season when they need their players most.

Iheanacho is part of Nigeria’s 28-man squad for the competition, which kicks off on January 9 in Cameroon.