Nigeria finished as runners-up in Group A, with Equatorial Guinea taking the top spot and hosts Cote d’Ivoire on the verge of elimination from their own tournament
Super Eagles defender Kenneth Omeruo has expressed his shock about how Equatorial Guinea have performed at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Soccernet.ng reports.
Equatorial Guinea pipped Nigeria to the top spot in Group A after beating Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau and drawing against the Super Eagles.
The National Thunder are the top-scoring team at the AFCON after netting ten goals in three games, including four in their final group match against the Ivorians.
Nigeria had the best chance to beat the Equatoguineans, but the Super Eagles had to come from a goal deficit to settle for a 1-1 draw in a match that Jose Peseiro’s men missed several goalscoring chances.
Former Leganes defender Omeruo is pleased that Nigeria made it past a difficult Group A, even though he expected the Super Eagles to finish top of the division.
And the 2013 AFCON winner is left stunned by how Equatorial Guinea have played at the tournament and how they beat Cote d’Ivoire 4-0 on Monday.
“Yeah, I am (surprised about how Equatorial Guinea have played). I won’t lie,” Omeruo said in an interview monitored by Soccernet.ng.
“I have a couple of friends there, and also in Spain, there are a lot of Equatorial Guineans there, and they are happy they are first (in Group A) ahead of Nigeria.
“But they have been fighting, and congrats to them.”
In the absence of Ahmed Musa and William Troost-Ekong, Omeruo captained Nigeria against Guinea-Bissau, a game the Super Eagles won thanks to Opa Sangante’s owngoal.
Nigeria, runners-up in Group A, will wait a few hours to know their opponent in the last 16, which could be any of Senegal, Guinea, or Cameroon.
