England international of Nigerian descent Tammy Abraham couldn’t resist bantering AS Roma teammate Evan Ndicka after Ivory Coast defeated the Super Eagles in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2024).
Nigeria were the favourites going into last Sunday’s final but were surprised by the hosts, who secured a 2-1 victory in front of a partisan home crowd at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan.
Despite scoring the first goal through captain William Troost-Ekong, Ivory Coast came from behind to win the game, with second-half goals from Franck Kessie and Sebastien Haller sealing an impressive comeback.
The Super Eagles may have been outnumbered in terms of support in Abidjan, but they had many people backing them from across the globe and Abraham was one of them.
Abraham's Ndicka banter
The AS Roma striker would, however, end up disappointed after watching the country of his parents lose the AFCON final to Ndicka and the Ivory Coast.
Ndicka returned to the Italian club at the weekend and was given a rousing welcome, as his teammates congratulated him on becoming a continental champion.
The defender was also welcomed by Abraham, who used the opportunity to ignite a banter by reminding Ndicka that he helped to beat his (Abraham’s) country, Nigeria.
In a video shared on AS Roma’s X (formerly Twitter) page, the pair are seen hugging, before Abraham jokingly says: “You beat my country.”
Abraham’s strong connection to Nigeria
Meanwhile, Abraham has always had strong ties to Nigeria despite opting to play for the English national team over the Super Eagles.
The Chelsea academy graduate was pursued by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) some years ago but he chose the Three Lions and made his senior debut in 2017 after previously playing for the U18, U19 and U21 teams.
In a 2022 interview, Abraham opened up on growing up in a multicultural community and said it helped him to embrace his African heritage.
“I grew up in a very multicultural area, with different ethnicities, from different countries and with different types of people. I think it helped me really embrace my African heritage,” he told England Football.
“My family originally came from Nigeria and in my area we had the African restaurants, the shops which sold African food like plantain, and that is where I dipped into my culture a bit more.
“I had friends who had similar backgrounds and being at Chelsea, we had quite a few players who had the same backgrounds as us and it was always nice to interact with that side of our family.”
Asked about his favourite Nigerian food, the 26-year-old added: “For me, my favourite part of the Nigerian heritage was the music. Even now, I still play the music. It brings you joy and a smile to your face. To see everyone feeling the same way you feel when you play the songs, it’s a nice feeling.”
Abraham joined Roma in the summer of 2021 and has been a key player for the Italian side, helping them to win the Europa Conference League in 2022. However, he has enjoyed very limited game time this season due to a niggling injury.
Meanwhile, Ndicka was ever-present for the club under erstwhile manager Jose Mourinho and played 15 Serie A matches before joining Ivory Coast for the AFCON. Similar to Abraham, the defender was born in France but switched nationality to play for the Elephants.
