Super Eagles defender Semi Ajayi, who was named the man of the match in Nigeria’s win over Tanzania, has admitted the side needs to improve ahead of the second game against Tunisia, www.aclsports.com reports.
The Hull City centre-back scored Nigeria’s first goal in the Group C opener before Charles M’Mobwa equalized for the Taifa Stars moments after the break. However, Ademola Lookman, 2024 Africa Player of the Year, with the instant response, and eventually the match-winner two minutes later.
Speaking after his strong performance, Ajayi called the experience one he will always remember, stressing that finding the net should be a shared responsibility across the team rather than left only to the forwards.
“It was an amazing feeling to score for your country and in such a game like this to get into such a really good start,” he said.
“I was really pleased. It shows that we are one team that cannot only rely on the attackers to get goals. I think we need to get goals from all over the team. We can get goals from the team. The defenders and midfielders, every need to chip in if we want to do well in the tournament. I am glad we got off to a good start,” Ajayi added.
Even after the victory, Ajayi admitted the side still has work to do ahead of their next group clash against Tunisia.
“There are few things that we can improve but and also a lot of positives that we can take from the game as well. Like I said, we are definitely aware there are things that we need to do better like seeing out the game and also killing teams off. We will be working really hard on the training to put that right.”
Nigeria will now face Tunisia, who defeated Uganda 3-1 on Tuesday, in their second group match in Fes on Saturday.
