Nigeria’s Super Eagles have been held to a 1-1 draw by the Elephants of Equatorial Guinea on Sunday in their opening 2023 AFCON match in Cote D Ivoire.
The Jose Pesiro side came into the match with African Footballer of The Year, Victor Osimhen leading the attack.
Despite injuries to Victor Boniface, Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Sadiq Umar, they began the match in a spritely manner with Victor Oshimhen in the 4th-minute shooting wide after a mistake from Equatorial Guinea’s keeper.
The team kept the momentum going and the Napoli forward came close again after the opposition goalkeeper parried a low shot but the linesman raised the flag to rule him off.
The Elephants maintained their discipline at the back and stunned Nigeria in the 37th-minute courtesy of Iban Salvador, who calmly found the back of the net with a brilliant finish.
Super Eagles reacted almost immediately after Alex Iwobi found Osimhen with a cross to level the match.
Nigeria will now play Cote D Ivoire on the eighteenth of January.