Super Eagles and Birmingham City right-back Bright Osayi-Samuel has praised Alex Iwobi's creativity in Nigeria's 4-0 win over Mozambique, Soccernet.ng reports.
Goals from Ademola Lookman, Victor Osimhen and Akor Adams helped Eric Chelle's men cruise to their first AFCON 2025 clean sheet.
While Alex Iwobi didn't get on the scoresheet or record any assists, the Fulham midfielders' line-splitting passes cut through the Mozambican defence, opening up the path for three of the four goals that were scored last night.
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Bright Osayi-Samuel delighted with Nigeria's display
Super Eagles' most dominant AFCON 2025 performance came in the same game where they recorded their first clean sheet, and that was the most important thing for the former QPR right-back.
“Phenomenal game. I think the clean sheet, as a defender, is what I'm going to say was very important today,” the 28-year-old told Victor Ademola.
“I've been in two of the last three games. We've played very well, but every time we get to the 75th minute, we concede.
“We just had to make sure that as defenders, we didn't let that happen today, and I don't think they had a chance. Our attacking players scored and assisted, so it was a good game.
Osayi lauds Alex Iwobi, Eric Chelle
Eric Chelle took over as the head coach of the Nigerian team 364 days ago, and the ex-Fenerbahce right-back has chosen to credit the Franco-Malian tactician for the Super Eagles' improvement.
“I think the manager, the way we start games, the tactical setup, it's all down to the manager. Kudos to him.
“We still have a few games to go; we'll take each game as it comes, but I think there's confidence within this team.
“We've put in a lot of work. It's a lot of information. We've also just started playing in a new formation, and you can see that everyone is beginning to understand, and we're growing together.
“I think today was a statement win, and some things will start to think twice about us, but we just need to focus on ourselves and look forward to the next game.
The African Cup of Nations is a tournament well known to defy the odds, but one feature that particularly stands out is the intense physical nature of the games.
Osayi, however, thinks that the Super Eagles, due to the intelligence of the players in their squad, haven't had to be as physical, citing Iwobi's passing excellence as a reference.
“If you see today's game, it's more intelligence than physicality. You have someone like Alex [Iwobi] who threads the line like no one is there
“And you have the likes of players who've won the African players of the year. You can see the quality of the players there. We just have to continue to do what we're doing as a team,” the ex-Blackburn man concluded.
Nigeria will find out their quarter-final opponents tonight. They'll play against the winner of the round of sixteen clash between DR Congo and Algeria.
