Olaleye IDOWU
Former Ivory Coast international, Yaya Touré, has said that Nigeria’s Super Eagles were the best team at the recent Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Nigeria had a fantastic run in the competition, scoring 14 goals and letting in only four goals during the whole event.
The Super Eagles performed very well in the knockout rounds, and they did not let any goals in.
Nigeria came out as the most attacking team in the tournament, but their journey stopped in the semi-finals when they lost to Morocco in a close match.
Touré praised Algeria’s strong performance during the tournament, even though they were ultimately defeated by Nigeria in the quarter-finals.
Toure, a former Manchester City midfielder, told Bleacher Report Football, “I’ve been watching the Afcon, and I’ve actually been there too.
“I have been impressed with Algeria, but Nigeria eliminated them.”
The former African football star also praised coach Walid Regragui’s Morocco’s way of playing, saying the team is “very practical, very straightforward, and uses quick counter-attacks.”
“I’ve been really impressed with the team that Walid Regragui is coaching. The manager of Morocco is very practical, very straightforward, and focuses on counter-attacks,” he added.
Touré, however, picked the Super Eagles as the most impressive team, adding that they have the two best players in Africa.
“I was really impressed with Nigeria. Nigeria plays good football. When you look at the stats, they’ve been scoring more goals than usual,” the former Barcelona star added.
“It feels like a full attack, playing excellent football. The thing that impressed me the most was Nigeria — the way they played football and the goals they scored. The players won because they had the two top African players on their team.
“They played really good games but were knocked out by Morocco in the semifinals.”
Nigeria came home with the bronze medal after beating Egypt 4-2 in a penalty shootout after the two teams tied in the third-place playoff match during regular time.
