The Super Eagles of Nigeria have returned to the country after finishing second at the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast.
On Sunday, Nigeria lost 2-1 to the Elephants of Cote
d’Ivoire in the AFCON final held at the Olympic Stadium, Ebimpe, Abidjan.
Nigeria took the lead in the match after William
Troost-Ekong scored a powerful header in the first half, but Franck Kessie and
Sebastien Haller scored in the second half for the Ivorians.
The loss halted the country’s dream of a fourth AFCON title for the time being.
Following the loss in the final, the players have returned
to the country.
In a video shared by Diana-mary Nsan, media aide to John
Enoh, minister of sports development, the players landed at the Nnamdi Azikwe
Stadium in the early hours of Tuesday.
She added that the minister of sports development was with
the team alongside Ibrahim Gusau, the president of the Nigerian Football
Federation (NFF).
The Eagles were welcomed by a sizeable crowd of people with
miniature Nigerian flags. The fans clapped and cheered as the players descended
from the plane.
Meanwhile, Alex Iwobi was singled out by many fans on social
media for criticism over the team’s performance in the final.
The Fulham midfielder was targeted by trolls on social media
who accused him of putting out a poor performance at the tournament.
The backlash culminated in Iwobi deleting almost all his
Instagram posts.
The situation compelled Ahmed Musa, the Eagles captain, to
call on Nigerians to stop “cyberbullying” his teammate, adding that Iwobi “gave
his all on the field, just like every member of our squad”.
William Troost-Ekong, Victor Osimhen, Kenneth Omeruo and
other members of the Eagles squad also threw their support behind Iwobi.
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Super Eagles did not do well in AFCON and that is the simple truth. The statistics of their match with Ivory Coast placed them just as a spectator. Ivorians were the masters of the game. The only thing Eagles were doing was to sit back, absorb pressure from the host but it must not last long. We only played defense in that game which was not to last long. We really need to change our pattern of football of relaxing even when the game is still on. All the same they have tried their best.
ReplyDeleteThe boys played very well. I'm impressed. Nobody knew we would reach the finals, particularly since we have been experiencing bad performance before the competition. Most Nigerians are hypocrites who cannot do better.
ReplyDelete