Çaykur Rizespor of Turkey defender, Chidozie Awaziem has declared that he is glad with the huge impact he made while playing for Nigeria at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, as he believes he got the opportunity to finally prove his quality for the Super Eagles, megasportsarena.com reports.
He gave himself a personal pass-mark, knowing that his outings in six matches were up to scratch, without any loopholes and an assist versus Guinea to boot, even while playing out of position, as a right-back, instead of at his usual role in central defence.
Awaziem expressed regrets that he could not help Nigeria reach the final, but they settled for third place with a 1-0 win against Tunisia on Wednesday, but admits he is thrilled with the form he displayed during all the matches he played at Egypt 2019, which happened to be six in total.
After stepping off Nigeria’s bench in place of injured Shehu Abdullahi, in just 20 minutes of the Super Eagles’ first group match against Burundi, megasportsarena.com can report that Awaziem tied down the right-back’s spot and excelled.
Although he missed the third place match due to accumulated yellow cards, independent statistics by pundits rated him high in terms of personal efforts, such that the defender, who is on loan at Rizespor from FC Porto of Portugal, is beaming with delight.
The 22-year-old central defender said he is happy to make a name for himself at AFCON 2019, but humbly says he is still learning the ropes of being a full back, which he says comes with a lot demands.
Awaziem went on to declare that he is leaving Egypt with his head high, after a glorious debut AFCON campaign that ended with a bronze medal and he emerged as Nigeria’s only defender to feature in six games.
During those matches, the former FC Nantes of France stopper, was recorded with 15 completed tackles, eight clearances, five blocks and three aerial battles, a log that Awaziem has described as summary of his amazing Egypt 2019 experience.
Although he confessed that he would have loved to see the adventure end with the Eagles winning the trophy, Awaziem said he is proud of what he has done for himself and Nigeria, while affirming that it was an honour for him being part of the team to Egypt 2019.
Awaziem told AOIFootball.com: “I’m extremely proud of myself (and what I have done), irrespective of how we end the tournament.
“We came here with a mindset to clinch the trophy; we knew it was not going to be an easy task but I believe we gave our best.
“To have been selected as part of the 23-man squad was an honour and to have even featured makes me more proud.
“The experience from this tournament would always be a massive boost for me and I hope to keep improving going forward.”
