John Obi Mikel has revealed that Nigeria had to work hard to carry out their game plan and stop the Ivory Coast from playing their football.
Nigeria beat the Ivorians 2-1 to advance to the last four of the Africa Cup of Nations this afternoon, and Mikel was delighted.
"We're very happy with our achievement," said Mikel. "A big congratulations to Ivory Coast for their achievement so far.
"We knew that they're a good team so if we were able to work together and play for each other on the pitch, we could stop them playing.
"And that's exactly what we have done today."
Sunday Mba scored the winner for Nigeria after Cheick Tiote's goal had cancelled out Emmanuel Emenike's opener.
Nigeria will play Mali in the semi-final.
