Iwobi played the entire ninety minutes in both of the Super Eagles games against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, albeit in a more reserved role.
Super Eagles midfielder, Alex Iwobi, has expressed his disappointment at Nigeria's inability to be prolific in front of goal, following the 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe, Soccernet.ng reports.
The ex-Arsenal player has played ninety minutes in the two qualifying games the Super Eagles have been involved in and has urged his teammates to do better.
Speaking in the post-match interview alongside the team coach, Jose Peseiro, the 27-year-old reiterated the coach's point of travel fatigue not being an excuse. Peseiro initially said;
“It was a tough trip from Nigeria to this place. The flight, the bus. It's a lot of work, and the players didn't have enough rest, coupled with injuries, but that's not an excuse. We had more energy and could have won that match.”
Iwobi then added that the quality of the squad at the Portuguese's disposal should have been enough to win the game, pleading with Nigerian fans to continue to support the team.
“Travel is not an excuse, we're professional enough and we have a lot of quality in the side. The first half wasn't good enough, but the second half was better, so we have to look at that and analyse the game and see what went wrong and what we can do to improve. I'll just ask the Nigerian fans to stick by us,” the former Everton man told Soccernet.ng.
For Iwobi, it is a disappointment to not come away with all three points and wants to fight for Nigeria's spot at the next FIFA World Cup.
“We're disappointed with the players we have, Nigeria is a country with a lot of quality players, we should have been able to get more points and goals. We won't dwell on this, we'll keep fighting till the very end to make sure we qualify,” He added.
The next time the Super Eagles will be in action will be at the 2024 AFCON tournament in Ivory Coast.
Reality check. Does anyone still think Nigeria will win this AFCON? Football is not played on the pages of newspapers.