NPFLUpdates in-house analyst, Mr. Best, has cried over the poor display of the AFCON U-23 Olympic Eagles on Wednesday.
   The AFCON U-23 team Wednesday was held to a goalless draw at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja, by Guinea.
Nigeria approached the game as the big boys, having the home advantage feeling, but were left stunned by the performances of the visitors.
Nigeria later in the game was reduced to 10-men after Chris Nwaeze received a second yellow card for poor challenge.
The first-half appeared uninspiring, despite the national team hitting the woodwork through an Abiodun Ogunniyi strike.
In a pre-match conference, coach of the team Salisu Yusuf, expressed optimism that his side have what it takes to qualify for AFCON. He said, his side would qualify from the first leg.
“I am satisfied that we have been able to work hard these past days and are now set for action,” he told the media.
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“The players know that reaching the African Cup of Nations present them a tremendous opportunity to fight hard for a ticket to the Olympics, which is a global tournament.”
“The second leg is on a neutral ground, but we don’t want to entertain that in our minds,” he continued.
“We have the objective of working assiduously to wrap up things in this first leg,” he concluded saying.
Analysing the game and giving his thoughts, Mr. Best said the team lacked direction.
The seasoned Analyst stressed that, a performance like this in the second leg, would mean Nigeria will miss AFCON U-23 2023
Nigeria AFCON U-23 team may lose ticket:
“How can we not beat Guinea with all the players at our disposal?” he queried.
“I almost jumped out of my skin in the first half when Nigeria couldn’t control the game. We’re supposed to make the opponents suffer, but reverse was the case.”
“With this type of display at our own backyard, I wonder what will happen in Morocco next week,” he continued.
“The coach(Salisu Yusuf) had better qualify us for the AFCON, much has been given to him already. Much is expected in return,” he concluded.
