Alhassan Yusuf’s fine Nigeria debut overshadowed by injury | OneFootball

There was plenty of surprise around when it was announced that Alhassan Yusuf would be starting for Nigeria in their opening AFCON clash with Equatorial Guinea. The Antwerp midfielder had only been included as a late replacement for Wilfred Ndidi. However, the 23-year-old proved any doubters wrong as he was the best player in the Super Eagle’s midfield as they laboured to a 1-1 draw to open the tournament.

Sadly, his fine debut for the Nigerian national team was cut short by an injury after 69 minutes. The box-to-box midfielder had to be stretchered off and was replaced by Joe Aribo. There was plenty of praise amongst the Super Eagles fans for the performance of Yusuf in the central areas, and hope is that there is nothing serious. However, the injury looked to be muscular, and depending on the outcome could see him miss the next few games.

Nigeria’s 1-1 draw means that Nigeria are now under some pressure to get a positive result against hosts Cote d’Ivoire, who beat Guinea-Bissau 2-0 to open the tournament.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson