'Osimhen could have had a hat-trick' - Ex-DR Congo captain has his say on Super Eagles goalscoring woes

Former Democratic Republic of Congo captain Gabriel Zakuani has played down Super Eagles' goalscoring woes at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations amidst fast-growing concern among fans and pundits alike. 

The West African side finished as runner-up in Group A with 7 points but could only score three goals despite creating a good number of chances and their profligacy in front of the goal has raised concerns.

To corroborate Nigeria's wastefulness in front of goal, a statistic from Whoscored published before the clash against Guinea-Bissau yesterday showed that they have missed seven clear-cut chances at AFCON.

The three-time African champions didn't do anything to ease the worries about their wastefulness in front of goal against the Wild Dogs,  with Victor Osimhen and Moses Simon missing two big chances apiece.

Reacting to fans' concern on BBC World Service after yesterday's game, Zakuani feels the Super Eagles will be fine despite not being clinical with the chances they have created so far at AFCON

"I don't think they should worry at all. I think Osimhen today could have had a hat- trick. A player of his quality, you expect him to put some of those chances away.

"The header away, I thought, he was 100 percent scoring it but what you worry about I know it sounds cliche but when a striker is not getting into those positions, that is when you worry about it.

"It would come, they should be happy that they are through and they have still got their main starman fit, they would be fine".

Heading into the knockout stages, José Peseiro will be hoping his side can rediscover their goalscoring form before the start of the tournament as they finished as top scorers during the qualification campaign.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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