Super Eagles forward Akor Adams has expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after its medical team stepped in to care for his mother during the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Speaking after Nigeria’s victory over Egypt in the third-place playoff on Saturday, Adams opened up about the emotional strain of dealing with family concerns while featuring in his first AFCON tournament. The striker revealed that his mother fell ill during the competition but was well looked after thanks to CAF’s intervention.

“Just like in every other tournament, there are always things happening in the background, and family matters don’t stop because you’re playing football,” Adams told reporters.

“I’m grateful it wasn’t anything too serious or out of control. I also want to thank the CAF medical team because they took really good care of her. She’s doing much better now, and I’m happy we were able to get through this together.”

Despite Nigeria’s win over the Pharaohs, Adams admitted to having mixed emotions, as the Super Eagles narrowly missed out on a place in the final.
“I’m not very happy, but the most important thing is that we won,” he said. Reacting to suggestions that a bronze medal might be insignificant, Adams strongly disagreed.

“Don’t talk about a bronze medal like it’s something easy. Some teams came here and left without anything,” he stressed.
“For now, we’ll just head back to the hotel, eat, and see what happens. For me, everything is positive.”

Reflecting on his first-ever AFCON medal, Adams described the moment as special. “It’s my first, and there’s nothing else to compare it to, so it’s definitely a good thing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Senegal are set to face Egypt in Sunday’s AFCON 2025 final.