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A mis-timed ball from long distance by goalkeeper Emil Maduka Okoye and an over-exuberrant stamp on an opponent by Akex Iwobi were the highlights of Nigeria’s 1-0 loss to Tunisia at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Megasportsarena.com reports that it turned out to be a Sunday to forget for Nigerian football fans, as their national team put up a sordid performance that belied their maximum points feat in the group stage of the ongoing continental soccer showpiece.
No one ever thought the Super Eagles would struggle against a team that barely managed to qualify as third placed from their group, after losing two matches and won only one, compared to the Nigerians that clinched all three of theirs.
The Tunisians had also been ravaged by covid-19 few hours to the game, with 12 of their players infected and only four pulling through few hours before kick-off in Garoua, while their head coach was left in isolation.
However, the Eagles went to sleep when it mattered most, with Joe Aribo, Samuel Chukwueze and Moses Simon all off key, while Kelechi Iheanacho could not conjure any magic upfront and Taiwo Awoniyi looked heavier than ever.
They barely managed to hold their own through the first half and just few minutes after the restart, when television coverage on all of Nigeria’s domestic channels went blank, Okoye conceded that pop shot from far.
Eagles’ interim coach, Augustine Eguavoen will now wish he did not send on Iwobi in place of Iheanacho, frantically in search of a goal, alongside Peter Olayinka, who replaced Awoniyi.
Iwobi added vev, gusto, zest and vibrancy to the Eagles’ quest for an equaliser, but he overdid it with a stamp on an opponent even with the ball at his own feet.
It took VAR to clarify the call and Iwobi rightfully got the red card that sent him to an early shower, even as he appeared bemused by the dramatic turn of events.
Not even the introduction of Umar Sadiq and, later on, out of favour captain, Ahmed Musa could swing the pendulum back in Nigeria’s favour and Tunisia spoilt what would have been a rematch of the 2013 final against Burkina Faso had Nigeria cruised ahead into the quarter-finals.
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