Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina is looking forward to playing in his third Africa Cup of Nations for Nigeria when the tournament kicks off in Ivory Coast on January 31, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The 27-year-old made his debut for Nigeria in October 2017 during a World Cup qualifier between Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Since then, he has played 33 times and has provided three assists in the process.
He started five of Nigeria’s seven games at the 2019 AFCON in Egypt where Nigeria finished third.
At the last AFCON in Cameroon, Aina started three games as Nigeria were eliminated in the round of 16 by Tunisia.
Ahead of the next one in January, the full-back expressed optimism about wearing the colours of Nigeria again at the tournament.
“It was good to have qualified. Everyone was happy and excited to be back for the tournament. The love I receive from the fans makes me feel good and I’m just happy to play for Nigeria and looking forward to the next one,” Aina told Premier League TV.
On why he chose to play for Nigeria despite representing England at youth level, Aina said, “It was just a decision I felt I needed to take. I knew Nigeria was looking for me and at that time I had not been playing internationally for different reasons and I just followed my heart at the end of the day, I wanted to play for Nigeria and I don’t regret it.”
Apart from Aina’s compatriot Taiwo Awoniyi who has been ruled out of the AFCON, four other Forest players are also AFCON bound with Ivory Coast’s duo Sèrge Aurier, Ibrahim Sangare in Nigeria’s group.
“There’s always banter and a little competition. It’s good for the dressing room atmosphere but we see how that goes at the tournament,” Aina said.
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