I was nervous before the match – Emenike

Emenike

 

Scorer of the Eagles first goal against the Elephants of Ivory Coast, Emmanuel Emenike conceded that he was nervous before the match began, but his confidence grew soon after his first touch in the game.

“We are happy with the victory. I was a bit nervous before the game but we kept to our plan and it worked for us. Soon after the game began, I realised that I was in control of my touches and that was it. I waited for an opportunity to come even though the passes to me were constantly being contested.”

The Spartak Moscow striker said he was confident of scoring the free-kick as soon as the Ivorians conceded the sot kick on the edge of their goal area, having done a similar thing when he played in the South African league.

“Before I scored the goal, I realised that I have scored this kind of goal when I was in the South African league. I remembered how it was done so I struck it the same way.

Speaking on the next game against Mali, Emenike said it would not be an easy game because it was a step away from the final.

“Mali will not be easy again but I strongly believe that we will play in the final. I did not doubt our ability to beat the Ivorians and I will not doubt our ability again. The semifinals of any competition is the hardest but we also want to play in the final just as the Malians are targeting.”

The striker, who has scored three times in the competition, attributed the victory on Sunday to unity in the team and focus on the set target, adding that he would not set a personal target in the competition.

“Today, we played as a team unlike before. I have three goals but I am not setting personal target, all I want is team’s success here.”