‘I almost cried’ — Iwobi relives goal against Zambia

Alex Iwobi says he almost cried after scoring the vital goal that put Nigeria on the path to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Iwobi came on as a substitute to score against Zambia and send Nigerian fans present at the stadium into ecstasy.

The 21-year-old striker recently relived the historic moment with Arsenal.com.

“It’s so hard to describe, you know what I mean. When I actually scored the moment was crazy, I remember running off celebrating,” Iwobi said.

“I almost cried, I actually almost cried to see how the fans were reacting, to see my mum and dad in the stands, it was just an amazing feeling.

“When I scored the goal, because the security are very strict the fans were trying to come on the pitch as I scored, but the security guards stopped them and after the fans they played trumpets and banged drums, so the players were just dancing, it was just crazy.”

The Arsenal FC forward said after scoring the goal and the match ended, the fans were “just jumping” as if “everyone won the lottery”.

He said: “It was the way they were like… it was almost like everyone won the lottery, they were just jumping.

“To go to the World Cup you can see it’s not just the players’ dream, it’s the fans’ dream as well and for me to get the goal for us to go through I’m just proud to do that.”