Less than 24 hours after Nigeria’s Super Eagles could not qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations, AFCON, to be hosted by Equatorial Guinea, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, has accepted full responsibility for the failure.
The Nigerian national team, who are current African champions, battled to a 2-2 draw in a crucial 2015 AFCON qualifier against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, on Wednesday, when they needed a victory to secure qualification.
With the result, South Africa and Congo secured the two automatic tickets in group A ahead of Nigeria, and left the teeming football fans in the country in sour mood.
Speaking on the non-qualification of the coach Stephen Keshi led Eagles to the 2015 AFCON, the President of the NFF, Amanju Pinnick, stated that it was a time for sober reflection rather than trading of blames or looking for scapegoats.
“The NFF takes full responsibility for what has happened. It is a tragedy for us to come so near and yet fail to reach the finals,” the recently elected football boss said after the match against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa.
He added: “We made so much effort and sacrifice in Congo to achieve the victory we needed there on Saturday and really had no business bungling it here.
“However, our commitment is to build a sustainable football culture in the country and nothing has changed. This is a disappointment but for us, we gave it our best shot and supported the team fully.”
On the way forward for Nigerian football, Pinnick stated that Wednesday’s failure could turn out to be blessing in disguise for the country.
“All things work together for good for those that love God, according to Romans 8:28. This has happened but we believe it will work together for us to toil hard and achieve a renaissance that will take Nigeria football to much higher heights than it has ever been.
“I use this opportunity to thank the Akwa Ibom State Government for all the support they gave the team and the assistance they offered the NFF. This is a dark moment but we will emerge into sunshine shortly.”
NFF boss, Amanju Pinnick
No reason was given for his attitude by NFA officials.
However, his South African counterpart, Ephraim Mashaba, spoke to newsmen, saying his boys played very well.
“We only lost the game in the last five minutes played. We would have scored a third goal, but we were disorganised by the red card.
“We did well because we fielded young players five of whom play in the Under-17 and Under-20 national teams,’’ he said.
The coach said his team would be hoping to go beyond the first round at the finals in Equatorial Guinea next January.
“We hope to reach the finals in Equatorial Guinea. After all, we have played with strong teams — Sudan, Congo and Nigeria — in the qualifiers,’’ he said.
Mashaba however refused to talk about the Eagles, saying “I do not want to talk about Nigeria. Their coach can do that’’.
Also, Fanny Amun, a former national under-17 team coach, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, that what happened called for a stakeholders meeting.
He said the NFA should go back to the drawing board.
“I do not want to lay blames on anybody, but we should sit down and analyse what has gone wrong and what should be put right,’’ Amun said.
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