Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) first vice president, Barr Seyi Akinwunmi has described as quite disappointing Flying Eagles failure to qualify for the 2017 Africa U20 Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Zambia.
The Nigerian representatives were stunned 3-4 by their Sudanese opposite, Young Falcons on Saturday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos. Both sides tied on 5-5 aggregate scores but the Nigerian side failed the Afcon 2017 acid test on inferior away goal. The Flying Eagles won the first leg 2-1 in Omdurman, Sudan and needed just a draw to secure the Afcon ticket.
Akinwunmi said the Afcon loss is bitter for a side that has not experienced defeat in almost all its previous matches. “Every time you lose a match it is usually disappointing except blood does not run in the veins of the person. It’s outright a bad day and unfortunate for the side to lose a game and it happens to be a crucial one”.
On the significance of the match, Akinwunmi conceded that the loss to Sudan has ended whatever hope Nigeria had at making an appearance at the 2017 U20 Afcon in Zambia.
“Flying Eagles are champions but have failed this one important test but how they can rise from the loss to be champions once again is quite key. We will look into the key area of youth development programme to see how we can make amend in future championship,” Akinwunmi said.
The north-eastern African side has now qualified for the biennial football championship in Zambia next year which will equally serve as the qualifier for the 2017 Fifa U20 World Cup in South Korea.
Source: vanguardngr.com
The Nigerian representatives were stunned 3-4 by their Sudanese opposite, Young Falcons on Saturday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos. Both sides tied on 5-5 aggregate scores but the Nigerian side failed the Afcon 2017 acid test on inferior away goal. The Flying Eagles won the first leg 2-1 in Omdurman, Sudan and needed just a draw to secure the Afcon ticket.
Akinwunmi said the Afcon loss is bitter for a side that has not experienced defeat in almost all its previous matches. “Every time you lose a match it is usually disappointing except blood does not run in the veins of the person. It’s outright a bad day and unfortunate for the side to lose a game and it happens to be a crucial one”.
On the significance of the match, Akinwunmi conceded that the loss to Sudan has ended whatever hope Nigeria had at making an appearance at the 2017 U20 Afcon in Zambia.
“Flying Eagles are champions but have failed this one important test but how they can rise from the loss to be champions once again is quite key. We will look into the key area of youth development programme to see how we can make amend in future championship,” Akinwunmi said.
The north-eastern African side has now qualified for the biennial football championship in Zambia next year which will equally serve as the qualifier for the 2017 Fifa U20 World Cup in South Korea.
Source: vanguardngr.com
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