The end of the road for Nigeria - AFCON

What a day! The super eagles of Nigeria were getting everything right at the group stage of the tournament.

Topping their group with a game to spare made it easy for them to have their name carved on stone as one of the favourites to win the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Who would have known that everything will turn into shambles immediately we get into the round of 16?

Pre-match...

There are many talking points from the game. While some are pointing accusing fingers at the goalkeeper for conceding 'a cheap goal', others are blaming Iwobi for making 'a silly contact' which led to a direct red card after a VAR (Video Assistant Referee) check.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria were the big boys while stepping into this game. They had their fill squad all healthy and eligible for the game. Tunisia on the other side of it were the underdogs. They struggled to pass through the group stage of the tournament and they also came into today's game without 10 of their key players. They were ruled out due to Covid19.

Into the game...

As the god of football would have it, the first 45 minutes of the game ended in a goalless draw. There was no serious threat from either side. The second half started with a purposeful display from the Tunisians and they were able to break the deadlock 2 minutes into the second half. That's 47 minutes on the clock.

Man...the temp changed immediately.

The Nigerians that witnessed the goal were gutted by this unexpected upset. The Tunisia where on the other hand were jubilating. They couldn't contain their excitement.

Talk about watching the same game and feeling different emotions

But that was not the end.

We had 43 minutes remaining and something good can still come out of the game. An equalizer followed by a win and we will sing out loud, jump into our socials and throw banter to the Tunisians and throw any other person that 'doubted' us.

We were all believing the Nigerian Spirit. I was also in that 'we will win this' train until Iwobi made it clear that we are getting NOTHING out of this game. Lol - Not smiling at all 🤨. The young lad picked up a red card at 66 minutes!

One man down? Yeah, one man down!

You heard that right. We were a goal down. As if that's not enough, we also became a man down. 10 against 11 will always make a difference in many football games, and it did.

We lost!

We did everything right in the group stage only to lose the tournament when everyone was already hoping for some goodnews. "It's typical of them" was the line many used. I might have also said that in my mind, but I can't write off the fact that we fought. Maybe not as many would expect, but we did...till the final whistle.

We were a man down yet we created a couple of chances. Unfortunately, our strikers were toothless in front of goal. They weren't bitting hard enough.

We fought and lost!

We are out of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Many Nigerians are gutted by the outcome of the game, but we can't undo what has already been done. I'm pretty sure that this game will be the last game that many will be watching in this year's AFCON.

GoodLuck to every other country that is still in the race.

Biyeeeeeeeeeee

Thanks For Not Missing Any Full-stop Or Comma
Also published here
Image Source