Super Eagles midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru has expressed delight that Nigeria managed to get over the line against Egypt to secure third place at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, despite missing the team’s opening spot kick in the penalty shootout.
Nigeria defeated Egypt 4–2 on penalties on Saturday after regulation time ended goalless, clinching the bronze medal at the tournament in Morocco.
Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali emerged as the hero for the Super Eagles, saving two penalties from Egypt’s star men Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush.
His heroics proved decisive and spared Dele-Bashiru’s blushes after the Lazio midfielder failed to convert Nigeria’s first kick of the shootout. Dele-Bashiru was subsequently rescued by Akor Adams, Moses Simon, Alex Iwobi and Ademola Lookman, who all calmly dispatched their penalties to seal the win.
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Reflecting on his miss, Dele-Bashiru admitted that taking penalties requires confidence, noting that although he believed he would score, it simply did not go his way on the night.
“It takes a lot of confidence to step up and take a penalty, and I’m quite a confident player,” Dele-Bashiru said after the match.
“I believed I was going to score, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. I’m happy that, at the end of the day, we got the win.”
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the AFCON title, the former Manchester City youth player described the tournament as a valuable learning experience.
“It was a good experience,” he added. “We came here aiming to win the trophy and that didn’t happen. After losing to Morocco, it could have been easy to overlook this game, but it was important that we finished strongly and got the victory.”
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