Super Eagles midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru has expressed satisfaction with the collective efforts of the team after their 2-0 win over Algeria on Saturday, SportPremi reports.
Nigeria advanced to the semifinals of the ongoing African Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco, following their impressive win over the Desert Warriors in the quarterfinals of the competition.
It was a very dominant performance as they got their revenge after the Algerians won their last AFCON meeting 2-1 in the last four of the 2019 edition, on their way to victory.
The three-time champions asserted their stronghold on the clash from the first minute and only wasteful finishing prevented them from a wider margin of victory.
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Calvin Bassey’s attempt was cleared off the line by Ramy Bansebaini in the first half, with VAR not awarding the goal as the entire ball had not crossed the second half.
The Super Eagles came out in the second half with the same energy they finished the first and deservedly got in front when Victor Osimhen headed in a brilliant delivery from Bruno Onyemaechi.
Few minutes later, it was two as Alex Iwobi played a defence-splicing pass to Osimhen, who then unselfishly passed to Akor Adams and the Sevilla forward did the rest, going past Luca Zidane and putting the ball into the net.
Nigeria closed out a 2-0 win and advance to the last four where they will play host nation Morocco in Rabat on Wednesday.
Dele-Bashiru reacts to Nigeria’s win
Speaking in an interview, the Lazio midfielder who came on in the second half of the clash, stated that the whole team is to be credited for their massive improvement at the tournament.
“Very very good performance from the team. I think it was a convincing victory, everything we’ve worked on the training ground we put into practice today”, Dele-Bashiru stated.
“We knew Algeria would be a difficult side, they have very good players but we nullified most of their threats and we also finished our chances which gave us the victory.
Everyone collectively, the coach and staff the players we’ve really been gelling over the last few weeks. Everything we do in training and our mentality and mindset is what we’re putting into practice on the pitch and we are showing it in our performances”, he added.
Dele-Bashiru also hailed Algerian captain Riyad Mahrez, who played his last match at the tournament in the defeat.
“Mahrez is a legend. I’m a man city fan and he is a legend for Manchester City, so respect to him”, the 24-year-old concluded.
