Super Eagles star Alex Iwobi says defeat to Argentina and Algeria at the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations respectively were a big blow to the morale of the team.
The Super Eagles took on the Albaceleste of Argentina in their last group game of 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, needing only a point from the game to secure passage into the round of 16.
However, Marcos Rojo’s volley four minutes from time gave the round of tickets to the South Africans the winner.
Almost twelve months later, the Super Eagles were knocked out of the race to win the 2019 African cup of when Riyad Mahrez scored a stoppage-time free-kick to send Algeria to the final.
Speaking on Instagram Live, Iwobi said both defeats were difficult to accept.
“Both of them were serious heartbreaks, to describe that feeling is painful. The Argentina one, it was hurtful because I saw how much effort we put in, how much we’ve been training so hard, the qualifiers we’ve done our best. It was Rojo that was able to get the goal.
“It’s nice to play but when you don’t play you still support the team as equally as if you’re playing, that one hurt. “I remember all of us were head down in the changing room.
The former Arsenal star continued: “The Algeria one where I participated, last free-kick of the game, that one was really painful because we did all our best.
“You cannot blame anyone, at the end of the day we win as a team we lose as our team. We have to congratulate Mahrez because the free-kick caught everyone off guard, it caught everyone by surprise.
“Both experiences were very tough for the team but we move on and go again, that’s the mentality we have. We can’t dwell on our past, we have to put things right in the future”. He said.
Iwobi picked up his 40th Nigeria cap in their 4-2 rout of Lesotho in a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on November 17, 2019.
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