Las Palmas defender Saúl Basilio Coco-Bassey Oubiña, better known as Saúl Coco says his team were lucky to have secured a 1-1 draw against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in their opening game at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
Yesterday, Equatorial Guinea held their own against the star studded Nigerian and even took the lead through Iván Salvador in the 36th minute, but it only lasted for a little over a minute with Victor Osimhen drawing Nigeria level from the restart.
Nigeria had chances to put the game to bed but failed to make any count with goalkeeper Jesús Owono ensuring that the Nigerians were kept at bay with some string of saves, but the major miss of the day was when Osimhen failed to make the best of a one on one situation to grab a brace and likely a win for Nigeria.
The Super Eagles will next take on Ivory Coast on Thursday and Coco sounded a warning to the host on the threat the Nigerians carry in attack, where he said they suffered to cope with the intensity and constant pressure.
His statement is a timely warning to the backline of Ivory Coast ahead of the game against Nigeria, more like despite the fact that Nigeria only converted one of the seven shots they had on target, they shouldn’t be taken for granted.
“Our game plan was to get a goal and see out the win but we suffered to get a point. It wasn’t an easy point as we had to deal with Nigeria constantly attacking with pace and directness. The weather was harsh and although they had the better chances, we are proud of the way we defended as against them”, he said at the mix zone.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
