Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has hailed the impact of midfielder Alex Iwobi to the team’s setup at the ongoing African Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco, SportPremi reports.
The Fulham midfielder has been one of Nigeria’s standout performers so far at the tournament and has made three appearances already, while he was rested for the final group game against Uganda.
The 29-year-old has been a consistent player for the national team since his debut and has constantly come under criticism for his below par performances.
In Nigeria’s first game of the tournament against Tanzania, Iwobi created both goals in the 2-1 win, first crossing for Semi Ajayi to score the opener and linking up with Ademola Lookman for the second goal.
He was also impressive against Tunisia with his high intensity and press in the midfield allowing Nigeria dominate their North African opponents.
His highlight of that clash was a brilliant pass to find Victor Osimhen, who then crossed for Lookman to score the third goal of that game.
In the Super Eagles Round of 16 clash against Mozambique, Iwobi once again brought out his creative part with a major role in the first two goals.
For the first, he played a wonderful De Bruyne-esque pass for Akor Adams to cross for Lookman, who fired home emphatically.
For the second goal, he played a majestic no-look pass to Lookman, before Psimhen was at the back post to finish the move.
Iwobi played the entire 90 minutes when Algeria defeated Nigeria 2-1 at the 2019 African Cup of Nations semifinal and will be hoping to make a bigger impact this time around as they seek revenge.
Chelle hails Iwobi’s performances for the Super Eagles
Eric Chelle, who has overseen a remarkable improvement in Nigeria’s results, will be hoping to guide the country past Algeria into the last four of the 2025 AFCON.
Speaking in an interview, the 48-year-old expressed satisfaction with the performance of Iwobi so far at the tournament.
“You know, there are some players who can smell the danger on the football pitch. This guy has an IQ, a very big football IQ, ahead of the other players. Technically, he’s very good too. Since the AFCON started, we’ve seen that this guy is a very good player and he likes the team”, the Nigerian coach stated.
“The most important thing is that he does it game after game. We have to stay focused, Alex has to stay focused to continue to work, to want to be better than the last game, and that’s the question. I’m very proud of him, and the team as well.”
Nigeria face Algeria at the Stade de Marrakech on Saturday, hoping for a win to progress into the last four of the tournament as they chase their fourth AFCON title.
