Nigeria’s Ola Aina looking forward to facing South Africa

by Graeme Jackson

Monday Oct 29, 2018. 10:00

Nigerian defender Ola Aina says he is looking forward to facing South Africa in next month’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Johannesburg.

The teams will meet in a Group E clash at the FNB Stadium on November 17, with the Super Eagles looking to avenge their surprise 2-0 loss at home to Bafana Bafana in Uyo in June 2017.

Aina, who is on loan at Italian Serie A side Torino from Chelsea, is excited by the prospect of playing at ‘Soccer City’, which was the major venue for the 2010 World Cup.

“That’s another one I am looking forward to and can tick off my bucket list. It’s a great stadium as we saw in the World Cup in 2010. South Africa have got a fantastic team, they’re also very attacking, so it should be a good test. I’m really looking forward to it if I get picked,” Aina told Chelsea’s official website.

Aina didn’t make the grade for Nigeria’s 2018 World Cup squad, but did feature in the group which secured back-to-back wins over Libya last month.

“I started on the bench for the first game, but had to come on early because of injury. I felt like I put in a decent performance. It’s never easy coming on from the bench like that, but I thought I did okay. Libya were a good side, but on the day we were just that bit better than them which showed in the 4-0 scoreline,” he added.

“The second game was a lot harder, we won 3-2. They fought really well but we managed to see it through and add more points to our total in the group.”