Former Nigeria captain Joseph Yobo believes Alex Iwobi may be the Super Eagles’ creative connection at the 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast, despite the team’s troubles in front of goal throughout the tournament.
The Eagles scored three goals in the group stage, the first coming from Victor Osimhen in a 1-1 tie with Equatorial Guinea. William Troost-Ekong’s penalty kick helped the side defeat hosts Ivory Coast 1-0, while Opa Sangante’s own goal secured a 1-0 win over Guinea-Bissau in the final group encounter.
With seven points, Jose Peseiro’s men advanced to the round of 16 and await their opponents for the tie on Saturday, but their lack of goals has been a source of worry for Nigerian fans.
Analysing the team’s performance against Guinea-Bissau, Yobo noted that Peseiro must play to the strength of his players.
“Our strength is from the flanks but if we can be creative from the middle, we will create more chances, but that is lacking. So, we are not getting much from the attacking midfield,” Yobo said via AfroSport.
“We have more defensive players and you can only work with what you have. We don’t have creative attacking options, what we have are players from the flanks either as full backs or wing backs.
“In the midfield, I think when Iwobi peaks, when he plays to his strength, I think we will see his creativity upfront.”
Despite not scoring as many goals, Yobo applauded the team for their compactness at the back.
“We have been solid defensively and even our goalkeeper hasn’t been really tested. That means we are doing something right there and we have to take the positive from that.”
The Eagles will face Cameroon in the round of 16 on Saturday as they hope to keep up with their quest of winning the AFCON for a fourth time after successes in 1980, 1994 and 2013.