Nigeria beat Guinea-Bissau 1:0 to progress to AFCON2023 group of 16
The Super Eagles of Nigeria today beat Guinea-Bissau by a lone goal to proceed to the knockout stage of the ongoing African Cup of Nations, AFCON2023, competition in Cote D’Ivoire. The match was their last group A game played at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan. With this result, Nigeria finishes second in the group with Equatorial Guinea springing surprise and finishing top of the group with seven points and superior goals after beating the hosts, Ivory Coast, by 4:0 in their last group game also played today
Nigeria opened scoring in the 36th minute of play through an own goal scored by Opa Sangante of Guinea Bissau. A second goal scored by Nigeria in the 58th minute of play was disallowed for offside positioning and for handball against Nigeria, as the ball had struck the hand of Osimen. Guinea-Bissau slotted in a goal that was equally disallowed in the 82nd play for offside, and shortly after, another goal by Nigeria in the 84th minute was again disallowed for offside.
Though Nigeria has qualified, it is on record that they scored only two goals in their three games. Actually, only one goal, scored in their opening match against Equatorial Guinea. The goal against Ivory Coast was through a penalty kick, while the goal against Guinea Bissau was an own goal scored by the Guineans. With their low goal-scoring record in the competition and inability to convert goals, how will they cope in the knockout stages against goal-hungry and goal-poaching teams? This is where the handlers need much work to do if the team is to continue to make an impact in the AFCON2023 competition.
