The pre-match pep talk by President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday failed to lift the Super Eagles as the three-time African champions crashed out of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations after failing 0-1 to Tunisia in the Round of 16 clash in Garoua.
Speaking via video conference from the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the President spoke with Coach Augustine Eguavoen, , Captain Ahmed Musa , Amaju Pinnick, President of Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), and Nigerian Ambassador to Cameroon, Gen Abayomi Olonisakin (rtd).
He said “You’ve been making Nigeria proud. You’ve been winning. Please keep on winning. The Federal Government is supporting you, and I say thank you to all the technical crew and the players. Please keep making the country proud.”
Responding, Coach Eguavoen said “We are so excited that His Excellency, President Buhari, has come to speak with us this morning. On behalf of the players and the technical crew, I want to say thank you very much sir.
“The group stage has passed, and your speaking to us is a morale booster. Thank you for your support, Mr President. We are so privileged, and want to promise that you should just relax, we’ll come out victorious. We won’t let the nation down.”
But the Super Eagles failed to live up to their promises as they were bundled out by Tunisia.
However, Super Eagles coach, Augustine Eguavoen, said they did their best to win the game while lamenting over the missed chances.
“We came here with mission. I can’t really fault these boys. They fought it for it but it was not meant to be.
“The goal came from a mistake and that was their best chance at goal. The Tunisians formed a low block and was difficult to break down,” he said.
He, however. blamed the players for not moving ball quickly while saying the red card given to Alex Iwobi wasn’t fair.
“Iwobi red card was not fair. His challenge was a first offence but the referee who is a gentleman is an expert in that field. We didn’t move the ball quicker and operating from the sides was difficult,” he said.
