Raphael Onyedika: Midfield dynamo reacts to Super Eagles return after AFCON bow

Nigerian star Raphael Onyedika during the game against Guinea-Bissau. (Photo Credit: Onyedika/Instagram)

FOOTBALL Raphael Onyedika: Midfield dynamo reacts to Super Eagles return after AFCON bow

Raphael Onyedika: Midfield dynamo reacts to Super Eagles return after AFCON bow

Izuchukwu Akawor • 20:33 - 24.01.2024

Raphael Onyedika was in action for Nigeria Super Eagles against Guinea-Bissau at the AFCON 2023.

Nigerian rising star Raphael Onyedika has expressed his pride and delight after finally making a return to the Super Eagles under Jose Peseiro.

The highly-rated 21-year-old midfielder came off the bench to feature in Nigeria’s 1-0 win against Guinea-Bissau in the final group game on Tuesday.

Onyedika and Nigeria

Nigeria sealed a place in the AFCON round of 16 following a hard-earned victory against the Wild Dogs. 

After several calls for the Club Brugge star to be given a chance under Jose Peseiro, the Portuguese finally gave the talented defensive midfielder some minutes at the AFCON. 

Raphael Onyedika in full flight for the Super Eagles.
Raphael Onyedika in full flight for the Super Eagles. (Photo Credit: Onyedika/X)

Onyedika came on after the hour mark to replace Premier League-based Frank Onyeka, who is also a graduate of the famous Ebedei FC in Lagos. 

The midfielder went on to play for 27 minutes, making an impression that could see him feature more should Nigeria’s Super Eagles go farther in Cote d’Ivoire. 

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

After the match, Onyedika took to his social media account to react to his AFCON 2023 bow as he looked forward to the next round. 

"Onto the next," the midfielder stated on his Instagram. 

Related content

Tags:
Nigeria