Scottish football club Rangers proved how important Joe Aribo has been to the club by giving him a sort of special coverage in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) via their verified Twitter page.
The 25-year-old Nigerian midfielder is one of the 28 players that are currently representing the country in the ongoing 2021 AFCON. Recall that Nigeria played their first game in the tournament against the record 7 times winner Egypt on Tuesday, January 11, 2022.
Ahead of the Group D tie, Rangers took to their verified Twitter page to announce to their followers that the Super Eagles would commence their AFCON campaign on Tuesday and wished Joe Aribo good luck.
👉 @J_Aribo19 & #TeamNigeria start their #AFCON2021 campaign this afternoon against Egypt.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) January 11, 2022
🙌 Good luck, Joe. pic.twitter.com/6k09XbJ8to
When the Super Eagles of Nigeria released their team list for the Egypt vs Nigeria Group D tie, Rangers retweeted the team list to announce to the club’s followers that Aribo started for Nigeria.
🙌 @J_Aribo19 starts for #TeamNigeria.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) January 11, 2022
👊 Good luck, Joe. https://t.co/i1guYEeXwy
After the game which ended 1-0 in favor of Nigeria, Rangers also took to Twitter to congratulate Aribo for providing an assist for Kelechi Iheanacho.
👏 Victory and an assist for @J_Aribo19 in the opening #AFCON2021match for #TeamNigeria
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) January 11, 2022
pic.twitter.com/KQKWuJ49Ms
Joe Aribo has been the player of Rangers since July 1, 2019. He joined the club on a free transfer from English lower league club Charlton.
Since his arrival at the club, the Nigeria international who plays mostly as a central midfielder and as an attacking midfielder has scored 23 goals and provided 20 assists in 123 games in all competitions.
So far this season, Aribo has played 32 games in all competitions in which he has scored 6 goals and has provided 5 assists.
Why everyone has been talking about Joe Aribo
In the AFCON group D match between Egypt and Nigeria on Tuesday, January 11, Joe Aribo paired with Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi to control the midfield so much that Egypt could not do much throughout the game.
Most people who watched the game agreed that Joe Aribo who made his international debut on September 10, 2019, was the stand-out player in the game.
The midfielder who wore the iconic jersey number 10 kick-started his 2021 AFCON campaign in Garoua, Cameroon in flying colors. Though he played as a midfielder, in the entire 90 minutes of football, Aribo was visible in both defensive and attack duties for the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
His biggest moment in the game took place when he laid the ball for Kelechi Iheanacho who controlled the ball before he smashed it into the net.
Aside from the assist, Aribo won all the four ground duels he attempted. He made a total of 42 touches, completed his only dribble, completed two tackles, and no opponent dribbled him throughout the game.
According to SofaScore, Joe Aribo’s overall rating at the end of the game was 7.6 which was the second-highest rating after that of Nigerian right-back Ola Aina (8.0).
