'My goal was one to remember' - Aina

Super Eagles defender, Ola Aina has expressed delight to have netted his first Premier League goal for Nottingham Forest.

Recall that the Nigerian international, scored with a thunderbolt strike in Nottingham Forest 2-0 win over Aston Villa.

A cut-back found an on-rushing Ola Aina who steamed in to crash a thunderbolt right foot attempt from 22 yards which flew past Martinez into the far corner of his net.

Nottingham Forest got a second goal in the 47th minute when Ballon D’Or goalkeeper of the year award winner Emiliano Martinez made a mistake to Orel Mangala’s sweetly hit 22-yarder hit the target.

However, in a chat with Sky Sports, Aina stated that he’s happy to have scored his first goal.

“My goal was one to remember. I’m happy to get off the mark and help the team. We can all be proud, we stuck to the game plan, we dug in and fought for each other,” Aina told Sky Sports.

On 28 March 2017, Aina was pictured alongside Chuba Akpom of Arsenal after discussions with Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick. In May 2017, Aina pledged his international future to Nigeria and obtained a Nigerian passport in preparation to making the switch from England to Nigeria. In the same month, he was called up for the first time to play for Nigeria.

In May 2018 he was named in Nigeria’s preliminary 30 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. However, he did not make the final 23. He was later recalled into the squad and played a major role in the team’s qualification for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations held in Egypt. He played the first match against tournament debutant Burundi, assisting the only goal of the match.

On 25 December 2021, He was shortlisted in 2021 AFCON Nations Cup by Caretaker Coach Eguavoen as part of the 28-Man Nigeria Squad.