Nottingham Coach Explains Why Ola Aina Struggled in AFCON Final, Nigerians Pen Emotional Tribute

• Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santos gave an update on Ola Aina's injury ahead of their weekend game against Aston Villa
• The manager, in a pre-match statement, revealed the Super Eagles' defender played the AFCON final with an injury
• The latest update about Ola Aina has stirred emotions from many Nigerian football fans as they penned tributes to the defender

Super Eagles defender and Nottingham Forest star Ola Aina is trending on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, after the Premier League club manager Nuno Espirito Santos gave an update about the footballer.

Aina, who was among the recognised players at the recently concluded AFCON final in Cote d'Ivoire, will be unavailable when Nottingham Forest takes on Aston Villa this weekend.

Nuno Espirito Santos speaks about Ola Aina

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"A true champ": Ola Aina played AFCON 2023 final with injury, says Nottingham Forest coach

According to Nottingham's manager, the defender, who was given a warm welcome back to the club, played the AFCON finals against Cote d'Ivoire with an injury.

Espirito Santos said the Super Eagles defender sustained the injury during the semi-final win over South Africa, Daily Post reported.

The football club manager said in a pre-match conference:

“Ola got injured in the semi-final and played the final with an injury, he tried but didn’t really play in the final."

Nigerian fans react to update about Ola Aina

Many have taken to social media to pour emotional tributes to the footballer. Legit.ng captured some of the comments, see them below:

abayomi4sam:

"So, Ola Aina played that final with injury? No wonder his performance is below par. He has served his nation well and we are proud of him. Jose Peseiro ought to have used an alternative i.e Osayi Samuel. In all, we thank you Ola Aina for your self-sacrifice and patriotism."

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"It was painful not to have won": Ola Aina shares his AFCON Memories, speaks about losing the final

Ola Aina speaks about his AFCON experience

Legit.ng also reported that also reported that Ola Aina spoke about his experience in Cote d'Ivoire.

The Super Eagles defender spoke about the AFCON consistently eluding Nigeria over the last three attempts.

However, he was optimistic that he and the current Super Eagles players would win it soon.

Source: Legit.ng