Ola Aina: Nigeria Defender Reflects on Painful 2023 AFCON Final vs Ivory Coast

• Nigeria lost the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final to Ivory Coast
• The Super Eagles were looking to secure a fourth AFCON title
• Nigeria star, Ola Aina, has revisited the final against the hosts

Nigeria came close to winning the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations but fell short in the final against hosts, Ivory Coast.

The Super Eagles were eyeing their fourth continental crown and were favourites to beat the Elephants, but Ola Aina said they couldn't because they were 'playing against destiny'.

Nigeria were considered one of the favourites to win the title behind Morocco and Senegal.

They made an unexpected run to the final with a sturdy defensive approach. They had conceded twice ahead of the final, and Nigerians were optimistic they would finish the job.

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They scored first through the captain and Player of the Tournament, William Troost-Ekong, in the first half, but things went south in the second half.

Ivory Coast, who were nearly out of the tournament a few weeks prior, scored twice in the second half to inflict a heartbreaking defeat on Nigeria, per the BBC.

When the final whistle blew, local fans celebrated wildly while the faces of Super Eagles players were filled with pain as they came to terms with the loss.

They are still waiting for their first AFCON crown since 2013.

Ola Aina on Nigeria's AFCON defeat

Aina was one of Nigeria's standout players at the tournament but was tormented by Ivory Coast's Simon Adingra throughout the game. The Brighton youngster provided both assists.

The Nottingham Forest defender implied that defeat against Ivory Coast in the final was imminent.

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"It felt like we were fighting against destiny. You could feel the weight of Ivory Coast against us. There were some decisions that could have gone our way, but I’m not that kind of player - ultimately, they did enough to beat us and fair play to them," he said, per The Guardian.

"We’ve been building this team since the 2019 AFCON when we came third with a really young team. Getting to the final was a progression that showed we are nearly there," Aina added.

The hosts overcame the impossible to win the title. They barely got out of their group and had to be resilient to reach the final.

What went wrong for Nigeria?

Sports Brief earlier reported on former Nigeria international, Mutiu Adepoju, explaining what went wrong for the Super Eagles against Ivory Coast.

Adepoju said the team failed to replicate the performances they showed in the other stages of the tournament when facing the hosts in the AFCON final.