Aina takes a bullet for Peseiro as Nigeria is forced to explain Iheanacho's no-show at press conference

Nigeria officials were forced to explain Kelechi Iheanacho's absence at the mandatory pre-match press conference on the eve of the Super Eagles meeting with South Africa in the semifinals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Iheanacho was the Super Eagles player selected to accompany Jose Peseiro for the press briefing on Tuesday morning, according to the notification the Confederation of African Football sent to accredited journalists covering the tournament. 

But surprisingly it was Ola Aina that showed up at the event, which more or less confirms that the Nottingham Forest wing-back will be involved in some capacity in tomorrow's showdown at the Stade de la Paix, Bouaké.

Iheanacho is believed to be have returned to fitness given that he has been included in all the matchday squads announced by Peserio in Ivory Coast but the Leicester City striker remained rooted to the bench in all the matches, leading to speculation that all is not well between him and the Portuguese football tactician. 

When asked to explain the absence of Iheanacho at the press briefing, a question directed at Nigeria's head coach, Aina got Peseiro out of a sticky situation and responded hilariously, "Am I not good enough? I'm just double-checking". 

The Super Eagles Media Officer, Babafemi Raji later clarified during the press conference that Iheanacho was replaced by Aina. 

Asked if Aina is good enough to be here, Peseiro answered: "Even Aina, in this moment I don't know. I don't like to speak about individual players but he's doing very, very well. For me he belongs to the first eleven in this competition."

Iheanacho was arguably one of Nigeria's most influential players before the start of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, having registered five goal involvements in his last five appearances for the national team.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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