Nigeria’s Super Eagles were always carrying a heavier burden: to prove that it's still one of the great footballing nations in Africa.
But when the team qualified for the Round of 16 on Tuesday, its fans were unhappy. Why?
Some say the team’s two goals in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) were gifted; a penalty and an own goal. Now they fear they may not make more progress.
Nigeria will face old rivals Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in the Round of 16 on Saturday. And like Nigeria, Cameroon has struggled so far, scraping through against the Gambia on Tuesday with a late winner.
Super Eagles, the three-time champions, finished second in Group 'A' with seven points will face Cameroon who finished second in Group 'C' with four points after defeating Gambia 3-2 in a pulsating game on Tuesday.
The Eagles reached the Round of 16 after defeating Guinea Bissau through an own goal on Monday. The first goal Nigeria scored in the tournament was a penalty.
Nigeria’s next match is set for the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan on Saturday 8pm.
The last time Super Eagles and Indomitable Lions met at the same stage in 2019 Afcon in Egypt, Nigeria won 3-2.
Fans fear the present team isn’t scoring, which may be its weakness, even though it isn’t losing either.
Gbemiga Olaniyi, a football fan, said: “I am very happy with outcome of the match but they can hardly find the net with the ball.’’
“I am not impressed with the attack. Our strikers are not scoring goals and this is not too good,’’ he said in Abuja on Wednesday while assessing the outcomes of all the matches played so far.
“I expected Victor Osimhen to have scored four goals by now, being on form and as the Africa Footballer of the Year,’’ he added.
Emmanuel Olawuyi, another fan, said: "The Super Eagles needed to be scoring goals. The goal drought from the Super Eagles is not good.’’
“If we intend to win this tournament, we need to be scoring goals.” he added.
Alade Monsuru, a sports analyst, corroborated the views of the other fans, saying Nigeria needed to be scoring goals if they are to win the tournament.
Nigeria is rated higher than the countries they played against in Group 'A' including hosts Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau and yet they did not take opponents to the cleaners, argued another fan referring to the Fifa ranking.
On the team is Victor Osimhen, Africa Player of the Year and currently attached to Serie A giants Napoli.
Umar Saidu, Chairman Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bauchi Council said the match between Eagles and Guinea was entertaining but they missed a lot of scoring chances.
“The aggressiveness of the players to score was lacking, they need to improve if we really want to zoom into the quarter-final."
Defending the team’s performance, former Green Eagles forward Felix Owolabi says the Super Eagles’ failure to score many goals is not as important as getting wins.
Owolabi, while reflecting on the Super Eagles’ qualification for the knockout stage of the competition said that winning matches was very important.
“In a game of 90 minutes, what people are expecting is the outcome, with the question ‘who won?’ This is because the side with the highest number of goals will be credited as the winners.
“If for any reason an opposing side scored an own goal, it is because of pressure and in the match, even if there was no own goal, we had players like Osimhen and others who could have scored.
“The own goal is counted in our favour, not minding who scored. What is important is who is the winner. But it is true that we are short of goal scoring abilities,” he said.
Habu Gumel, President, Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), urged the team to remain focused, persevere and focus on winning the trophy.
“The road to the top is never easy, and the challenges will only become tougher from this point forward,” Gumel said. “We have full confidence in the abilities of our players and coaching staff to excel. With unity and perseverance, we believe they can go all the way and secure their fourth Afcon title."
Worried with the outpour of criticism, Super Eagles’ Coach, Jose Peseiro, said that his team was keeping the goals for the next round.
