As Nigerians rue the country’s
ouster from the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Friday, soccer buffs have
expressed disappointment and advised football administrators to be serious with
preparations for major tournaments.
The Super Eagles lost 0-1 to Egypt
in the second leg of the qualifiers after they had drawn 1-1 in Kaduna,
Nigeria.
The development makes it a second
consecutive time that Nigeria will not qualify for the tournament in four years
after they won the 2013 edition.
The ex-players said that the team
played well and urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to take decisions
that would salvage the shameful situation.
Christian Chukwu, Captain of the
1980 Nations Cup winning team, Green Eagles, said that the boys played their
best but did not convert scoring chance to goals.
Nigeria hosted the 12th edition in
Lagos and won its first beating Algeria in the final 3−0. “The team lacked the
zeal to score goals in the early hours in the match.
“We played good enough, but we did
not strike our opponents’ net early not until we were one goal down.
“The boys should have strategised on
how to score early in the second half, but instead they held on to the ball.
“I still give kudos to the coach for
a good job,’’ he said.
Former Assistant Super Eagles
handler, Joe Erico, added that “the NFF should be serious with preparations and
take decisions that would salvage the shameful situation that has befallen the
team in recent times.
“It is sad that we lost and are out
of the competition in the qualifying series for the second consecutive time
even with the quality of players that we can boast of.
“This I believe is as a result of
poor preparations and lack of seriousness by the football administrators; they
just have to get back to the drawing board and get the right decisions for
future purposes.
“I hope this loss will teach them a
big lesson,’’ Erico said. Friday Ekpo, an ex-international, said that the boys
played a good game though wasted time to score early.
“For me, it was a fair game only
that they failed to make it to their opponents net early before they got to
ours.
“When they scored, it dawned on the
Super Eagles that they needed to wake up from their deep slumber.
“The handlers came in briefly to
take charge of the affairs, I’m sure if they had been in charge since, it would
have been a different story but I must commend their efforts.
“I will suggest that the NFF should
leave the handlers to continue coaching the team and watch to see results
before taking the next step,’’ he said.
Source: Vanguard News
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