Nigeria – with Brentford midfield player Frank Onyeka in their squad – have been knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations. They were beaten by Tunisia in a Second Round match yesterday, Sunday 22 January. Tunisia move on to the Quarter Final and Nigeria will fly home from the tournament, in Cameroon.

The game was decided by a solitary goal. Youssef Msanki fired home in the early stages of the second half and Nigeria could find no way back. Alex Iwobi, of Everton, was sent off as Nigeria battled in vain for an equaliser. Frank was an unused substitute.

Nigeria had ended the group phase with nine points, to secure top spot in Group D, with wins over Egypt, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau. Frank came off the bench in the win over Guinea-Bissau but did not play in the other games. Frank will now return to Brentford.

Frank earned his fifth cap for his country in the win over Guinea-Bissau. It was the fourth he has earned since he joined Brentford last summer. When he played for Nigeria in October, Frank became the 50th Brentford player to have won a full international cap while on our books and has now joined a very select group.

Only two others – Kamohelo Mokotjo, of South Africa, and Julian Jeanvier for Guinea – have played in the Africa Cup of Nations. Both did so in 2019. Frank has also joined a list that also includes Mathias Jensen, Christian Nørgaard, Henrik Dalsgaard, Marcus Forss and Halil DerviÅŸoÄŸlu, to have appeared in an international tournament.

The midfield player has been a regular for The Bees in the Premier League this season. He was involved in 17 of Brentford’s 19 Premier League games before leaving for the tournament, starting 11 of them. He was an unused substitute in one other match. Frank has made 21 appearances in all competitions since joining from FC Midtjylland in the summer and contributed two assists.