Nigeria faced a difficult Tanzanian challenge in Morocco on Tuesday but goals from Ademola Lookman and Semi Ajayi secured a morale-boosting victory
Semi Ajayi has described it as an ‘amazing feeling’ after marking Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a goal, a Man of the Match performance and a much-needed 2-1 victory over Tanzania, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Super Eagles defender emerged as Nigeria’s best player in the encounter after picking up the Man of the Match award following his impact at both ends of the pitch.
Ajayi was Nigeria’s standout performer in Tuesday night’s Group C win at the Fez Stadium, opening the scoring in the first half with a close-range header from Alex Iwobi’s inviting cross. The goal was Ajayi’s second for Nigeria and his first at the Africa Cup of Nations.
What Ajayi said after Nigeria vs Tanzania
Speaking afterwards, the Hull City centre-back admitted the moment carried extra meaning.
“Amazing feeling to score for your country, always an amazing feeling, and in such a game, to get us off to a really good start. I’m really happy,” Ajayi said.
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Ajayi’s performance echoed memories of the last AFCON, where he partnered William Troost-Ekong as Nigeria reached the final in Côte d’Ivoire.
Troost-Ekong, now retired from international football, scored three goals from defence at that tournament and finished as the competition’s Most Valuable Player.
Ajayi believes that example remains vital for the current Super Eagles side, particularly as Nigeria seek to spread the responsibility for goals beyond their forwards.
“Will (Troost-Ekong) had an amazing tournament, it shows that one team can’t rely just on attackers, need goals from all over team, defenders, midfielders need to chip in if we want to do well in a tournament so glad we got off to a good start,” he added.
Despite the positive result, Ajayi admitted Nigeria were far from flawless against a disciplined Tanzania side and warned that improvement is required ahead of Friday’s crucial meeting with Tunisia.
“There are a few things we can iron out and improve, some positives we can take from the game as well, but things we can do better. Need to kill teams off, will be working in training to put it right,” he said.
“Definitely, [Tanzania] wouldn’t be here if they weren’t good, understood would be a tough challenge and we’d be at our best, put up a good fight but we knew we’d be victorious.”
The win is Nigeria’s first since their painful World Cup play-off defeat to DR Congo in November, a match decided on penalties.
Ajayi was among several Super Eagles players, alongside Moses Simon and Calvin Bassey, who missed from the spot as Nigeria failed to qualify for a second successive World Cup.
The memory, Ajayi admitted, still hurts.
“I mean I am still feeling the pain of that penalty miss every day. I just need to channel that pain into something positive, need to give my all every time I put on the jersey and I think I did that today,” he said.
Nigeria now sit joint-top of Group C with Tunisia, who beat Uganda 3-1 on Tuesday night. Victory over the Carthage Eagles on December 27 would secure the Super Eagles a place in the AFCON knockout stages with a game to spare.