Onigbinde, Etim slam Eagles over CHAN exit

Super Eagles

Allwell Okpi and Idris Adesina

Adegboye Onigbinde, Etim Esin and Friday Ekpo have expressed their disappointment over the Super Eagles’ exit from the Rwanda 2016 African Nations Championship.

In separate telephone interviews with our correspondents, the trio said they were hurt by the country’s ouster.

The Eagles on Tuesday failed to qualify for the quarterfinals of the tournament after they lost 1-0 to Guinea to finish third in Group C with four points behind Tunisia and Guinea.

The Eagles needed a draw to qualify for next round of the competition but the loss meant they exited the tournament in the group stages after their third-place finish in the 2014 edition.

Onigbinde said, “As a patriotic Nigerian, I’m not happy. When Oliseh was going to be appointed, I had reservations about his experience as a coach. As a player, he was fantastic. I went to the extent of saying that it was an insult to Nigeria for someone who had not had any experience as a club coach or coach a national team (to manage the Eagles).

“This is not jubilating over his failure. What I’m actually saying is that it was not Oliseh’s fault. Things were wrong from the beginning. I was reading him this morning complaining about the condition of the team. He said there were distractions from outside. I believe that the problem with Nigerian football is more administrative.”

Former Nigeria midfielder Ekpo said, “It’s unbelievable that we are out of CHAN after topping the group after two matches. But that is football for you. If we had done our homework, we would have scaled through.We allowed the Guineans to dominate play.”

Esin believes overconfidence cost Nigeria a quarter-final spot in Rwanda.

The ex-Eagles attacker told one of our correspondents, “The Eagles   were in control of the group and they should have ensured they   got at least a draw against Guinea, but they disappointed their fans,” he said.

“The players played in a pedestrian way and it was a far cry from the team that beat Niger 4-1 in their opening match. They have been known not to score in the first half of their first two matches but they should not have conceded a goal since they couldn’t score.”