Little-known Aribo carries Nigeria’s ambitions against Tunisia

Yaoundé

Having benefited from playing under Steven Gerrard at Rangers, Joe Aribo is starring for Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon as the Super Eagles target winning a fourth continental crown.

Aribo started Nigeria’s first two group games, helping them to wins against Egypt and Sudan that sealed their place in the last 16 with a match to spare.

The midfielder was then rested for their final 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau as interim Super Eagles boss Augustine Eguavoen sought to keep Aribo fresh for Sunday night’s last-16 tie against Tunisia from 10pm (Kenyan time).

Gabon will play Burkina Faso in the first knockout match Sunday night from 7pm (Kenyan time).

“When I called him up for the first time, he scored a goal as soon as he came into the side,” recalls Gernot Rohr, the veteran German coach who gave Aribo his international debut but was sacked last month.

Aribo, who was born in London, made his bow for Nigeria in September 2019, not long after joining Rangers from Charlton Athletic.

“It was a friendly match in Ukraine after the last Africa Cup of Nations when we were looking at new players,” Rohr, who took Nigeria to third place in 2019 in Egypt, tells AFP.

“He played really well in that first match and remained in the starting line-up from then on as long as he was fit, because he has had some injury problems and had Covid.”

The 68-year-old Rohr enjoys speaking about the players he worked with while in charge of Nigeria, and there is no bitterness about the manner of his departure just before this Cup of Nations.

“No, these are my boys,” he laughs, before describing the 25-year-old Aribo as “adorable, very polite. He listens, he is quite reserved and doesn’t talk a lot, but he can do it, if he has to.”

Aribo laid on Kelechi Iheanacho’s winner against Egypt in Garoua and might have had more assists had the Nigerian strikers’ finishing been better.

Eguavoen’s decision to rest Aribo as well as defender Ola Aina against Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday was motivated by a desire to protect both players from the threat of a booking that would have ruled them out of the last 16.

Rohr, who has also managed Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso in Africa, describes Aribo as “on form at the right time. He is a player who tends to stay in the shadows but he is technically excellent and can make the difference with his left foot.”

Aribo scored seven goals in the Rangers team that won the Scottish Premiership last season and has already netted six times in this campaign, as the Glasgow club have seen Gerrard leave for Aston Villa with Giovanni van Bronckhorst taking over.

Aribo form has led to him being linked with a move back down to England, this time to the Premier League.

Box-to-box midfielder

Usually deployed in a more attacking role at Ibrox, Aribo has been playing in the centre of midfield for his country alongside Wilfred Ndidi.

“He is a box-to-box player who gets forward from deep. He likes to beat his man and go for goal,” adds Rohr.

The former Nigeria coach discovered Aribo while scouting in Britain, where there are plenty of players with Nigerian heritage.

One-time Chelsea defender Aina played for England at age-group levels, while Everton’s Alex Iwobi -- who is the nephew of Jay-Jay Okocha -- represented England at youth international level after moving there as a young boy.

As for Aribo, Rohr spoke to his father and convinced both him and the player to join up with the Super Eagles. It is a move that is paying off for all sides.

Meanwhile, underperforming Egypt and Senegal hope Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane can recapture their Premier League form when the Africa Cup of Nations enters the last-16 stage in Cameroon.

Salah and Mane netted once each in three group matches while receiving close attention and some rough treatment from opponents aware of their scoring potential.

Record seven-time champions Egypt face the Ivory Coast in the highlight of an eight-match schedule spanning four days from Sunday having managed only solitary-goal wins over Guinea-Bissau and Sudan.

An Ivory Coast side including Sebastien Haller from Ajax and Nicolas Pepe from Arsenal were among the most impressive qualifiers from the six groups and eliminated holders Algeria with a 3-1 triumph.

Senegal face dogged Cape Verde, whose forward Garry Rodrigues scored one the best of the 68 goals in the first round with an exquisite back-heel past Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana.

Here, AFP Sport looks ahead to the round of 16 with Gabon, Nigeria, Gambia, Cameroon, Senegal, Morocco, Ivory Coast and Mali the possible winners.

Clinical finisher

Gabon, often flops at the finals, impressed when holding Morocco despite the absence of stars Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mario Lemina and Denis Bouanga due to the coronavirus.

Jim Allevinah is a clinical finisher and he could give the Gabonese the edge over a Burkina Faso team that needs to improve with a heavy burden on the shoulders of Aston Villa forward Bertrand Traore.

Form and tradition suggest Nigeria, the only nation to win all three group matches, will be too strong for opponents who fell to Mali and minnows Gambia in the first round.

Nigeria have never lost to Tunisia at the Cup of Nations and remain in Garoua while their rivals spent Friday relocating from Limbe at the other end of Cameroon, leaving them little time to prepare.

Guinea are under severe pressure with junta leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya telling the squad they will have to repay the cost of state-funded preparations if they do not bring the trophy back to Conakry.

The absence of suspended captain, Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita, will weaken Guinea and offer hope to Musa Barrow-inspired Gambia, whose performances have mocked being ranked 150th in the world.

After a stunning victory that eliminated four-time champions Ghana, Comoros tackle hosts Cameroon, who boast the leading scorer after the group stage in five-goal Vincent Aboubakar.

"Nothing is impossible in football," says Comoros coach Amir Abdou, and his team have clinical forwards in Ahmed Mogni from the French third division and Serbia-based El Fardou Ben Mohamed.

Unpredictable Cape Verde battled to overcome Ethiopia, lost to Burkina Faso and held star-studded Cameroon while coach Bubista remains at home in the island nation due to Covid-19.

Kalidou Koulibaly-captained Senegal have disappointed, needing 97 minutes to beat Zimbabwe through a Mane penalty then held to goalless draws by Guinea and Malawi.

It is 46 years since Morocco won their only Cup of Nations title and hopes are high that the Vahid Halilhodzic-coached class of '22 can go all the way.

Malawi have an impressive forward in Frank Mhango and run relentlessly, but it is hard to imagine the Flames succeeding despite a dramatic recent improvement under a new coach, Romanian Mario Marinica.

Two-time champions Ivory Coast outclassed Algeria and will be favourites to win the match of the round despite having succeeded only once in 10 previous Cup of Nations clashes against Egypt.

But Egypt coach Carlos Queiroz remains hopeful, saying "we have been concentrating on our finishing. Sometimes we try too hard to score and complicate matters."

Cameroon has been a happy hunting ground for Mali -- they achieved their highest Cup of Nations finish of second place 50 years ago and were 2020 African Nations Championship runners-up there.

They won Group 'F' thanks largely to the penalty-taking of top forward Ibrahima Kone while the well organised Equatoguineans exceeded expectations by finishing second in Group 'E'.