Nigeria’s Super Eagles on Sunday crashed out of the 2021 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) following a 1:0 loss to Tunisia.
Following the loss in a thrilling encounter in which Alex Iwobi saw red, Nigerians have expressed diverse reactions with former Senate President Bukola Saraki saying the Super Eagles gave their all.
“Tonight, our Nigeria Super Eagles gave their all! Even though we had so much promise and we are disappointed with the result, in football, you win some and you lose some! I salute our players, our coaching staff, and everyone who contributed to our success so far,” Saraki stated.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari is currently trending on Twitter and Facebook following the loss of the Super Eagles.
President Buhari had earlier had a video conference with the coaching crew and players before the knockout match. Now, many Nigerians are saying Buhari’s call was the reason the Super Eagles crashed out.
May you not answer the call that will doom your Success, just like the call Buhari made to super eagles.
— LυℳmᎽᎴe̬̤̯ᏋzᎩ (@Lummydeez) January 23, 2022
The day Joshua portrayed for buhari that day failure came upon him and same thing happened to our super eagles today.
— Chesko (@CheskoSegun) January 23, 2022
Anthony Joshua was doing very well before his encounter with buhari, same with Super Eagles..may we not have disastrous encounter😣😣
— ooa (@theooreoluwa) January 23, 2022
Buhari represents failure and misfortune, once he involves his lousy self in your matter it’s finished for u already 🤣@renoomokri thank you for warning the super eagles on time but then cos NFF dey mad na why they permitted the call.
— ZUBBY🤴😎🤴 (@Onye_Nku001) January 23, 2022
However, others believe that lack of coercion on the part of the Super Eagles was the cause of the abysmal performance.
Former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu believes that many things went wrong with the match.
“Sad, but it’s football for you. Many things went wrong; and on a day things will go wrong for a man, even the gods will go on holiday.
“Many lessons to learn, though. Did the #SuperEagles approach the game with the right mentality? Could we have managed the game better? Could the officiating have been better? Etc.
“In all, let’s not be harsh on the boys. They’re great guys. They did their best and also gave us happy moments at the earlier stages of #AFCON2021. Let’s pick our pieces and let the journey to a better #supereaglesofnigeria continue. Surely, the #Eagles will fly again,” Ekweremadu stated.
Total lack of commitment, patriotism and seriousness caused us this game #AFCON2021 #SuperEagles https://t.co/NV97rdpdK6
— Abbatee (@abbatee_dollar) January 23, 2022
Taken Tunisha for granted in the first 45 minute, for me, was not fair enough.
Even after the red card, it didn't killed their Morales, God bless Nigeria.
God bless super eagles.— Jeremiah (@jerryzz2) January 23, 2022
Our coach messed up, super eagles where predictable, no tactical change. Second round new tactics, Tunisia changed for the better and there u go
— David Kwambe (@DavidKwambe) January 23, 2022
Okoye is the worst Super Eagles goalkeeper I've seen. It's his first actual shot on target in the whole tournament.
— Ojo, Aderemi 🕊️ (@RealOjoAderemi) January 23, 2022
https://twitter.com/JibrilOdianosen/status/1485366564803289090?t=FsgmWM_xN8gFYWw7HSJCRg&s=19
For the avoidance of doubt, Eguavoen is still my man. #NIGTUN
— Dr Joe Abah (@DrJoeAbah) January 23, 2022