Africa Cup of Nations has been charmingly exciting so far and embellished with lots of surprises as the underdogs could upset those favourites more than once.It’s been like that almost since day one, but this Wednesday was all contrary. The favourites – Nigeria and Egypt – made sure we didn’t see any of it.Set-pieces masterpiece books the Pharaohs ticket for the 1/16 finals and a chance to dreamMighty as Superman, clumsy as Clark Kent: Nigeria’s Sadiq has it all, as the Super Eagles fly highDespite the fact they are eliminated from the continental championship, both Sudan and Guinea Bissau deserve applause. Nevertheless, they’re probably not the heroes of the day, so let’s see who is then…Hero of the day: Umar SadiqSadiq after scoring the opener (©AFP)As you’ve read in our Nigeria-Guinea-Bissau match report, the tall striker was the central figure of the entire match. He was given a chance from the start – for the first time at this AFCON – and his presence was second to none. Causing trouble for an opposing defence, Sadiq knows where to allocate himself and reads the game perfectly. That’s the reason he scored an opener that decided the game’s direction.GOAL!Guinea Bissau 0-1 NigeriaUmar Sadiq opens the scoring with his first international goal for the Super Eagles. #AFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/spou6roL2B— af•recon #AFCON2021 🏆 (@af_recon) January 19, 2022 Of course, he also missed a couple of sitters, but that’s the man we’re talking about here. We’ll see much more of him in days to come.Goal of the day: Mohamed AbdelmoneimIt’s not the most stunning you’ll see in the tournament, but this Abdelmoneim’s winner is such a lovely piece of football action. Egyptian player made the most of a set-piece situation in the first half, exploiting the fact Sudanese defenders were mostly focused on Mo Salah in their box. Headers are not like volleys or bicycle kicks, yet there’s something utterly charming in the one we saw tonight at Group D decider.
