2018 CHAN: Mentorship helped me against Sudan—Ajiboye

NIGERIA substitute goalkeeper, Dele Ajiboye, said mentorship helped him to put up a spectacular performance which aided Nigeria’s 1-0 victory over Sudan in the semi-final of the ongoing 5th African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Morocco.
Ajiboye, a member of the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup winning squad with the Golden Eaglets in an interview said he was always prepared for any game even while on the bench.
“We don’t pray for any bad thing to happen or injury, but when it happens, whoever the coach calls to come in just need to get his act together and face the task and that was what I did.
“Our coach [Goalkeeper’s trainer, Aloy Agu] normally tell us to be prepared, he always tells us that ‘you don’t know when it will happen’ and when I came in, I tried to do all I could to save the team and thank God we came out with a good result.
“We have come far in this competition and with hard work we will beat Morocco on Sunday and come back to Nigeria with the trophy. Our motto is ‘Operation Go and Win’ and that is what we are aiming at on Sunday,” Ajiboye who won the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) title with Plateau United last season said.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Okechukwu who won the Man of the Match award is excited by the victory.
“I’m excited that we won. It was a collective effort not just a one-man show. Kudos to the whole team. It was not an easy game but in the end, we emerged victorious. Anybody can score, it is all about team spirit. The victory means a lot to get to this stage.
“I felt bad when Ikechukwu Ezenwa was injured because for a player to get injured whilst playing is not a good feeling.
“However, I did not panic because I knew the substitute (Ajiboye Oladele) was equal to the task,” Gabriel who also scored the winner against Angola in the quarter-final said.