Super Eagles striker Akor Adams says he is pleased with his performance and is confident the goals will come after making his AFCON debut in the 2-1 victory over Tanzania on Tuesday, SportPremi reports.
The forward enjoyed an impressive showing in his first-ever match at the African Cup of Nations tournament as Nigeria secured an impressive 2-1 win over Tanzania at the Fez Stadium.
Adams has the first chance of the clash few minutes after the start, but his low effort was saved by Tanzanian goalkeeper Zuberi Foba.
The Sevilla forward was at the heart of things once more in the 10th minute and after beating Foba this time, his header came back off the crossbar.
The Super Eagles however took the lead in the 36th minute through Semi Ajayi, who headed in a delightful cross from Alex Iwobi.
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Adams strike partner Victor Osimhen then thought he had scored early in the second half, but his strike was ruled out for offside by the assistant referee.
Tanzania then grabbed an unlikely equalizer as Charles M’Mombwa found the back of the net after getting on the end of a long ball.
The Taifa Stars were level for just two minutes as Iwobi once again fed Ademola Lookman, who curled in a stunning effort from the edge of the area.
Nigeria fended off a tense finish to complete a 2-1 win and stay top of group C with three points alongside Tunisia, who defeated Uganda 3-1 later in the day.
Adams excited to make AFCON debut
Akor Adams had made a goalscoring debut for the national team in the win over Lesotho in October, but could not repeat the feat at the African Cup of Nations against Tanzania on Tuesday.
However, he enjoyed an impressive night and will be hoping to lead Nigeria to success in the coming matches.
“I feel good, my confidence mostly come from my physical shape and I feel very good on the pitch,” the Sevilla forward stated.
“The goal will come, the assist will come, for now we focus on taking the points, it’s the group stage we take as much point as possible to make it through to the next round.
To improve on what we did today, it was a good game from our side. Most important thing in tournaments is victory, not so much on how you play, we came for the victory and we got it and we just work on that”, he continued.
“No that’s not the pressure, we come to win, and everybody came to win. So we are not coming with a different ambition than any other country.
“Yes we missed out on the World Cup like some other countries did. It’s very sad, we are still very sad about it, but we plan to go as far as possible and we are working towards it”, Adams concluded.
What Next for the Super Eagles?
Nigeria return to the Fez Stadium for their clash against Tunisia on Saturday, knowing a victory would seal their place in the next round.
They will then face Uganda in their final group match on the 30th of December as the group stage comes to a conclusion.
