Brentford’s Frank Onyeka credits incredible AFCON 2023 performance to one secret ingredient

Frank Onyeka joined Brentford from F.C. Midtjylland in Denmark in 2021 after the Bees secured promotion to the English Premier League.

Super Eagles and Brentford midfielder, Frank Ogochukwu Onyeka, has credited Nigeria’s AFCON 2023 run in Ivory Coast as an ingredient that helped him gain fitness, Soccernet.ng reports.

Onyeka, 26, started just five of Brentford’s fifteen games before the AFCON tournament, accruing just 733 minutes of football.

In Wilfred Ndidi’s absence, the former Ebedei boy played all seven games for José Peseiro’s men in Ivory Coast as they lost the final to the hosts.

The run turned out to be the longest stretch of football the deep-lying midfielder had played in a while, and he referred to the outing as a source of gaining fitness after running his socks off against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City last night.

“You know, going back to Africa, helping my team, coming back fit, it’s been excellent. It helped and really fit, and now I can help my team,” the 26-year-old said in quotes revealed by the club’s official website.

Erling Haaland’s goal made all the difference at the Etihad Stadium yesterday, but Onyeka’s performance was nothing short of impressive and he wasn’t pleased that the Bees couldn’t come away with at least a point.

“We came here believing we could do it again, so to lose is sad, but it was a good performance. It’s hard because they move the ball quickly, so we needed to adjust as quickly as possible. We did that pretty well in the first and second half; defensively, we did well. With the slip, it happens in football. Sadly, we couldn’t get something out of the game,” the 24-time capped Super Eagles midfielder added.

Thomas Frank’s men forge ahead in the English Premier League and will look to capitalize on the poor form of David Moyes’ West Ham when both sides meet on Monday night.