Our target is to win AFCON trophy in Ivory Coast- Super Eagles’ Awoniyi

Super Eagles striker Taiwo Awoniyi believes the team is aiming for the trophy at the Africa Cup of Nations 2023 competition, which will be held in Ivory Coast in January 2024.

The Eagles were eliminated in the second stage of the last edition in Cameroon in 2022, losing 1-0 to Tunisia when Alex Iwobi was sent a red card for a dangerous tackle.

In an interview with Channels Television on Friday, Awoniyi stated that the team, having qualified for the next competition, is determined to win it this time.

“I think everyone in the squad is happy, the first stage is to qualify for the AFCON which we did already, then the next stage now is just to try everything possible to win the AFCON which is the target for the country.

“The last one was an experience, I was there and we are happy we are there again and of course, we want to go there and we want to win the trophy for sure,” Awoniyi, who also plays for English Premier League side, Nottingham Forest said.

He said it is not lost on him and his teammates that every country going to the AFCON is going to challenge for the trophy, but said the set of players in the Super Eagles right now are really hungry for success.

Two goals from Victor Osimhen and one from Kelechi Iheanacho helped the Super Eagles defeat Sierra Leone 3-2 to qualify for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on June 18, with one game to spare.

Awoniyi, who just finished his first season with Forest scoring some vital goals that helped to keep the team in the Premier League, admitted that things weren’t easy for him and the team at the beginning of the season.

He, however, said that what mattered the most was that at the end of the season, Forest kept its status in the English topflight which he added made the season a very successful one.

The former Liverpool player, who joined Forest from the German Bundesliga side, Union Berlin, last summer said the meeting he had with the coach Steve Cooper convinced him to join the Premier League side.

Probed on transfer rumours linking him with a move away from Forest, Awoniyi said he remains under contract with Forest for five years and that nothing has changed about that.

He promised his fans that the coming season will be an even better season than the last one.

Awoniyi netted ten times for Forest last season which helped ensure the two-time Champions League winners remain in the top flight after just returning in 2022 following many years in the Championship.