Former Nigeria international Joseph Yobo is satisfied with the Super Eagles’ performance at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations so far, despite their narrow 1-0 win over Guinea in Wednesday’s Group B outing.
Nigeria had to until the 73rd minute to break the deadlock at the Alexandria Stadium, with Kenneth Omeruo’s first goal in his eighth appearance at the Afcon finals proving decisive.
Wednesday’s victory was the second time the Super Eagles waited until the 70th minute to score their only goal in a fixture in Egypt – after Odion Ighalo’s 77th-minute strike against Burundi.
Yobo, who captained the country to win their third Afcon title in 2013, said the result against the Syli Nationale showed that Gernot Rohr’s men can fight until the end of the 90 minutes.
“The transition of playing was better in the second half. In the second half, Musa and Simon were quicker with the ball which is the way Nigeria play from the wings and the summary was the corner kick from Moses Simon which was a good delivery and Kenneth Omeruo got the goal,” Yobo said after the match.
“Basically, taking into consideration the results of the first and second games, it shows you that Nigeria can grind their way to win results even when they’re not playing at their best level.
“We saw an improvement in the Nigeria team and hopefully, as the tournament progresses we will see a better Nigeria team scoring more goals.
“This team will keep improving. This is the second game, six points in the bag, no goals conceded, I think that’s a good way going forward.”
Nigeria will hope to end their group outings with an unbeaten record when they battle Madagascar for their final Group B game at the Alexandria Stadium on Sunday.