Loss to CAR: Sports Editors slam Eagles coach, accuse him of toying with Nigerians
Super Eagles shocking 1-0 home loss to Central African Republic’s Les Fauves in a Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying match at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, has continued to rankle Nigerians three days after.
The latest angst on the Eagles unbelievable defeat by the CAR minnows is coming from the Guild of Sports Editors of Nigeria (GSEN), which has descbribed the loss as emotional torture.
The Guild of Sports Editors of Nigeria, comprising managers of sports sections of major Nigerian newspapers and broadcast houses, said the Eagles have been toying with Nigerians’ emotions for a long time.
The loss in Lagos was Nigeria’s first defeat in a World Cup qualifier in Lagos in over 40 years and also the country’s first against one of the least ranked teams in world football.
Anger over the defeat of the Eagles by the CAR is stoked further by the realization that 90 spots separate between the 34th ranked Eagles and the Les Fauves who sit in the 124th place on the FIFA ranking index.
The GSEN in a statement 24 hours after the match and signed by Tony Ubani, its President, said the Eagles performance against the Les Fauves is the lowest the senior national team sunk since Angola held Nigeria to a 1-1 draw on the way to the Germany 2006 World Cup.
The Editors said if drastic action is not taken, the country may miss out on the 2022 edition of the Mundial.
“The Super Eagles have been toying with Nigerians’ emotions for so long, but what happened on Thursday is unprecedented in the history of Nigerian football. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) must find a way of arresting the slide before the next game in Cameroun.
“This was how the Eagles behaved until they missed the 2006 World Cup. Nigerians don’t easily forget. Nobody should feel he is untouchable because teaches us otherwise”, Ubani said in the statement.
Ubani, who said Super Eagles Manager, Gernot Rohr, seems to have abandoned his primary duties and embraced Nigerian football politics, warned that the country has so much to lose if it fails to qualify for the World Cup.
“Rohr has been with the Super Eagles for more than five years, but there is nothing to show for it. What he does is travel all around the world in search of players whose names sound Nigerian and bring them to play for the country. Any serious football fan can do that even without leaving the comfort of his sitting room”, he said.
He noted that if the team has grown bigger than Rohr, he should resign honourably instead of subjecting Nigerians to emotional torture.
“Cape Verde and Central African Republic have four points each, while Nigeria has six. If the Eagles fail to beat Central African Republic on Sunday and Cape Verde beats Liberia, the Super Eagles’ fate will no longer be in their hands. A stitch in time saves nine”, the statement said.
The Super Eagles will play their fourth game of the World Cup qualifying series against Central African Republic in Douala, Cameroun, tomorrow, while Cape Verde will meet Liberia.
