Despite Nigeria’s underwhelming performance in their opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, which drew scathing criticisms back home, fans reserved praises for debuting midfielder Alhassan Yusuf following his impressive display in his first game for the Super Eagles, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The Eagles played a 1-1 draw with the National Thunder, as the Guineans are fondly called, in their Group A game at the Stade Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan.
Nigeria, who were the heavy favourites, were forced to settle for a draw while their underdog opposition walked away with a valuable point.
Fans immediately took to social media to lash out at the team for the poor performance but were full of praises for the Antwerp midfielder.
Carpe Diem wrote, “Since Yusuf left, the link up between the midfield and attack was dead, Aribo sat too deep and Simon what was that performance?”
While Equatorial Guinea’s goalkeeper, Jesús Owono, was voted as the Man of The Match, Kalu Emmanuel believed that Yusuf deserved the accolade.
“Alhassan Yusuf, Man of The Match. So bad he got injured in the game,” he said.
Disappointed with the game, Favour Azubuike reserved her praise for the 23-year-old.
“The only impressive person to me was Alhassan Yusuf. He wasn’t invited initially but he made his mark in this game, he used his debut well.”(Punch)
