3 matches that cost Eagles 2015 AFCON ticket

Opening defeat against Congo in Calabar- Former Eagles captain and FIFA technical committee study group member, Sunday Oliseh said Nigeria losing their first qualification match 3-2 against the Red Devils of Congo in Calabar back in September cost them the ticket and many find themselves agreeing with the former Juventus midfielder. Winning that first game […]

Opening defeat against Congo in Calabar- Former Eagles captain and FIFA technical committee study group member, Sunday Oliseh said Nigeria losing their first qualification match 3-2 against the Red Devils of Congo in Calabar back in September cost them the ticket and many find themselves agreeing with the former Juventus midfielder. Winning that first game would have put the Eagles on a good stead just the way the team became demoralised and was unable to recover after that defeat. Nigeria’s record of not losing to Congo in 33 years was shattered.
The Eagles team was poor on that day and the Congolese surely deserved victory. They outplayed Eagles on their own turf and stuck to their game plan as devised by experienced coach Claude Le Roy.
Defeat to Sudan in Omdurman- After a goalless draw with Bafana Bafana in Cape Town which meant Nigeria had only a single point after two games, everyone expected Eagles to take their next match seriously by whitewashing the Falcons of Sudan (the then whipping boys of the group) to increase their points to four in the Group A standings. However, apart from giving out their worst performance in the qualifiers, the Eagles lost 0-1 to lowly rated Sudan. A Bakri Abdelgadir header in the 42nd minute of the game ensued the Super Eagles remained on one point after three matches. The Falcons haven’t defeated Eagles since 1967 and the last time they recorded a draw was in 1973. That embarrassing result immediately cast a dark shadow over the reigning champions qualification. They indeed needed a miracle to scale through.
2-2 draw with South Africa. Victory by any margin in Uyo would have landed Eagles in Equatorial Guinea but that never happened. And so if there was one Nigerian that needed to be consoled after the 2-2 draw with Bafana Bafana on Wednesday, it was Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State. That was to be his moment in the sun but the Eagles spoiled the party for him. Another person who must have cried his eyes out at the hotel after the ill-fated encounter is CSKA Moscow forward, Ahmed Musa, who missed three glorious chances to put the Eagles in front early in the first half. Those missed chances came back to haunt Nigeria as they found themselves trailing by two un-replied goals before Sone Aluko’s late double restored parity. At the end, Bafana who had already qualified with a game to spare played for pride. (having not defeated Eagles in 11 competitive meetings) They showed hunger and desire more than the home team which needed to win to qualify for 2015 AFCON.