Nigeria vs South Africa: Why I Was Disappointed

Nigeria legend, Austin Jay Jay Okocha has admitted that he was a bit disappointed after Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr, substituted Vice-captain Ahmed Musa in Nigeria’s 2-1 victory over South Africa at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, quarter-final on Wednesday.

Ahmed Musa came off for Levante star, Moses Simon in the second half of the match, but Okocha noted that the former Leicester City forward was a big threat to the Bafana Bafana defence with his pace.

Samuel Chukwueze gave Gernot Rohr’s men a 1-0 lead before the break thanks to an assist from Alex Iwobi.

However, South Africa levelled in the second half, courtesy of a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decision.

With the match looking to head into extra time, William Troost-Ekong forced the ball over the line in the final minute of play.

Speaking in his post-match analysis with SuperSport, Okocha said: “I think Ahmed Musa was a big threat to South Africa defense with his pace. I was a bit disappointed when he was substituted because he was causing all sort of problems to this South Africa defense.

“But then, who are we to judge the coach decision and at the end of the day Simon came in and delivered that beautiful corner kick that gave us the goal and that was an assist from him.

“I think overall we should start celebrating the win of today and stop criticising the players because it will weaken us.”

Nigeria will tackle the winner between Algeria and Ivory Coast on Sunday in the semi-final.