Nigeria’s AFCON hopes still alive – Ighalo

Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo, says Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying for 2017 AFCON are still alive after their 1-1 draw with Egypt in Friday’s first leg encounter in Kaduna.

The Watford of England forward who reacted shortly after the first leg match said if the Pharaohs of Egypt could pick a draw here in Nigeria, the Super Eagles can as well go to Alexandra to pick a win.

Ighalo who scored the second goal in the Super Eagles 2-0 win over Chad in the Match Day One of the 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, says it was painful allowing the Egyptians to share points with Nigeria in the match.

“We did not do badly, we gave our best, and you can see that from the way we played the match, but we were very unlucky to have ended the match 1-1,” says the Watford striker.

Ighalo adds: “Despite this result, I don’t want to believe that we are out yet. We are going to learn from this match and improved on that in the second leg in Alexandra. The hope of qualifying is still very much alive.”

Meanwhile, the Super Eagles are expected to depart the country’s shores on Monday for the return leg match scheduled for Tuesday in Alexandria.

Egypt still top the Group G with seven points while Nigeria remain in second position with 5 points.