Sports
Iwobi ‘almost cried’ after firing Nigeria to 2018 World Cup
Super Eagles forward, Alex Iwobi, has revealed that he almost cried after coming off the bench to score a late winner against Zambia, and send Nigeria to Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup finals.
The match, played at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in the cool of the day on Saturday October 7, saw the visitors mounting pressure on Nigeria who needed a win to book their ticket to the global showpiece.
The stalemate continued until Iwobi came in for Simon Moses in the 65th minute and scored the long-awaited goal 8th minutes later to make Nigeria the first African nation to qualify for tournament.
Speaking in an Arsenal interview, Iwobi said it is “hard to describe” how he felt after scoring the goal.
“When I actually scored the moment was crazy, I remember running off celebrating,” he said.
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“I almost cried, I actually almost cried to see how the fans were reacting, to see my mum and dad in the stands, it was just an amazing feeling.”
He continued: “After (the game)the fans they played trumpets and banged drums, so the players were just dancing, it was just crazy.
“To go to the World Cup you can see it’s not just the players’ dream, it’s the fans’ dream as well and for me to get the goal for us to go through I’m just proud to do that.”
As it stands, Nigeria alongside Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Germany, Belgium, Costa Rica, England, Egypt, France, Iceland, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Korea, Spain and and hosts Russia are guaranteed to be at the finals next summer.
The Eagles will however play their final Group B World Cup qualifier away against Algeria this Friday, November 10.
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