Some football fan on Tuesday expressed shock over the manner the Super Eagles crashed out of the ongoing CHAN in Rwanda after losing to Guinea.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria’s Super Eagles crashed out of CHAN 2016 after Guinea beat them 1-0 at the 5,000 seat Umuganda Stadium in Rubavu.
Guinea’s Brahima Sankhon’s first half strike against the Eagles proved a decider in denying the Eagles of reaching the quarter-finals of the competition.
The Eagles approached the game as the group leader, but crashed out obviously because of technical deficiencies, the fans said.
They placed third in the group after their rival Tunisia emerged winner, beating Niger Republic 5-0 in the second group match.
Former ex-Eagles star, Mutiu Adepoju, and other football fan told NAN that the result was a shocking one owing to the way Nigeria started the championship.
Adepoju said that it was sad to see the Eagles crash out of the tournament at an early stage.
“I hope it serves as a lesson to prepare well for the next tournament.
“It is just a pity not going beyond group stage, it is very bad, but nonetheless, we just have to continue working and make sure we prepare well for subsequent ones.
“The defeat may not be due to technical deficiency because in the first game we look good, but that’s football, not until you win the last match you cannot rest.
“The first game we won and drew the second game, that was the beginning of the problem, we should have tried to win all our matches.
“I think they should have defended their goal against Tunisia. We have the same opportunity which Guinea had and made use of. We should have defended against Tunisia,’’ Adepoju said.
For Segun Ajayi, an Advertisement Executive, the result shows Nigeria did not learn a lesson in the previous tournament where they crashed out due to complacency.
“The team has all the odds with them to qualify but threw it away in an unfashionable manner. From my own point of view they were looking for a draw.
“They should have aimed for a win. I wonder the excuse for not playing their best striker Chikatara from the start when the coaching crew knew that the match is a determinant.
“The team cannot rely on Tunisia’s game to continue in the tournament as each country came with its own strategy.
“We are leading the group until we crashed out, is that not a surprising? It is because other teams knew what they wanted and played us out technically,’’ he said.
Rafiu Ladipo, the Chairman, Nigeria Football and Other Sports Supporters Club, described the team’s 1-0 loss to Guinea as unexpected.
Ladipo, who said he was sad with the defeat, told NAN that “sincerely, it is unexpected’’.
“It is a sad one for us and a sad end to the Super Eagles who were practically bundled out of the match due to carelessness.
“This is not a match to lose; it is most painful because we were topping the table in the group, all we needed was a draw to qualify’’.
Emeka Eziugo, a former Green Eagles player, said the approach of the players to the match had lapses as their preparation was not adequate.
“They did not take the matches one after the other, group stage matches are very critical but attention was to win the cup at the detriment of excelling in the group.
“It is unfortunate that we lost and for Coach Sunday Oliseh, who got the job on recommendation. I am sure he is most pained because expectations are high on him,’’ he said.
Collins Adiri, a businessman, said it was a poor outing for the Super Eagles, adding that the stage at which they crashed out was embarrassing.
Adiri said, the Super Eagles were a team that other participating countries and spectators expected to win the Cup, but they disappointed their supporters beyond the nation’s shores.
“This is a match that our national team would have proved their supremacy because we are the tournament’s favourites.
“I feel so bad that the Super Eagles ended up this way, after raising our hopes with their performance at the opening match, all of a sudden they lost it,’’ he said.
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