We will use Sierra Leone draws as motivation for the next games, says Iwobi

Nigeria attacker Alex Iwobi scored twice in the 4-4 draw against Sierra Leone but the Super Eagles were unable to see the game through, surrendering a 4-0 lead. The draw was followed up with a goalless draw in Freetown.

The draw sparked outrage from Nigerians who felt the Eagles should have sealed the win. Iwobi has now reflected on what went wrong in the game and the lessons learnt going forward.

“It was obviously clear to tell that we took our foot off the pedal and we weren’t able to see the game through,” Iwobi told ESPN.

“Going 4-0 up, I feel like we were overconfident and we lost a bit of game management. We weren’t professional enough to see the game through.”

The Eagles face the final two games of the qualifying group stages against Benin Republic and Lesotho and Iwobi said they have learnt and will use the draws against Sierra Leone as motivation and hope to win the games.

“The aim of every game is to win,” he said. “And looking back at the last game against Sierra Leone, we had the opportunity to do that but we didn’t.

“We will use that as motivation and try to put things right in the next two games, and we will learn from our mistakes.

“We already analyzed it and we know what we have to do. We just have to prove it to ourselves that we can win the next two games.”

Cover image – ESPN/Via Getty