Cybereagles

The Nigeria women national team, Super Falcons’ hope of moving to the next round of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games African qualifying series was dashed yesterday by Cote D’Ivoire, who held the team to a 1- 1 draw at the Agege Township Stadium, Lagos.
The Cote d’Ivoire team, who held the Super Falcons to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the tie, opened scoring 10 minutes into the game through a nice free kick taken at the edge of Nigeria’s 18-yard box.

After the goal, the Ivoirians continued to pile pressure on the Nigerian side, but Super Falcons’ new captain, Asisat Oshoala capitalized on a fast break from the midfield to get the equaliser in the 40th minute.

When fans thought the Falcons will go on to win the tie on aggregate, their Ivoirians dug in and repelled everything the Nigerians threw at them until the final whistle. And then drama ensued.

The match officials, who were not sure if the away goals rule applied in the encounter, attempted to order a penalty shoot out.

For over 30 minutes, the Nigerian and Cote d’Ivoire players and officials were on the pitch waiting for the final decision of the centre referee to either signal extra time or follow the away goal rules.

The match commissioner had to make numerous calls before the match was awarded to Cote d’Ivoire, who started jubilating, while the Falcons walked out of the pitch disappointed.

According to reports, CAF and FIFA rules conflicted on games tied like yesterdays.

Speaking on the Falcons loss, NFF Vice President, Seyi Akinwunmi confirmed that the away goal rules had been applied to give the Ivoirians the game.

“The Ivoirians have won. If we had scored the second goal, it would have been our day. But notwithstanding the result, the NFF will keep making the team stronger the best way we can.

“Currently the Super Eagles are in Camp in Singapore, where they will start training tomorrow.

“Coach Rohr has started mapping out a strategy for the tie, which will give the Nigerian players and coaches an insight into the standard of the team. I cannot talk on the Super Falcons’ foreign coach because it is an official matter,” he said.

https://guardian.ng/sport/drama-controv ... -olympics/

Zelex wrote:If we are honest, this NFF probably ranks among the worst. The appalling state of home based eagles , poor performances of youth teams and the absolute disarray surrounding the Falcons team (some key players banned from the national team for protesting, Dennerby situation etc). Only the SE are doing OK albeit nothing special.

Lolly wrote:

Zelex wrote:If we are honest, this NFF probably ranks among the worst. The appalling state of home based eagles , poor performances of youth teams and the absolute disarray surrounding the Falcons team (some key players banned from the national team for protesting, Dennerby situation etc). Only the SE are doing OK albeit nothing special.

I hope people can see the difference between Maigari who worked hard for all our teams (SE, Youth, CHAN Eagles, Falcons etc) and Pinnick whose only concern is the SE and the international travel that comes with it. We are in trouble.

Orion wrote:Falcons have not qualified for the Olympics since 2008 but have continued to win the African championships and qualify for the world cup. It seems we've dropped the ball when it comes to the Olympics and this happened long before Pinnick assumed office. This is despite CAF slots being increased to 2 teams.

fabio wrote:

Orion wrote:Falcons have not qualified for the Olympics since 2008 but have continued to win the African championships and qualify for the world cup. It seems we've dropped the ball when it comes to the Olympics and this happened long before Pinnick assumed office. This is despite CAF slots being increased to 2 teams.

So Pinnick met a ¨failure¨ and he continued with the ¨failure¨. We are supposed to progressing not stagnating. Find a better excuse, please!!

Odas wrote:Certainly we are not good enough to qualify for the Olympics. In two legs, we couldn't put the Ivorians away? I think we are very bad, indeed

mcal wrote:

Odas wrote:Certainly we are not good enough to qualify for the Olympics. In two legs, we couldn't put the Ivorians away? I think we are very bad, indeed

...men and women teams very bad. The football administration very bad too.
This is what Colin Udoh wrote on espn site;


Immediate reactions to the elimination focused largely on the lack of league action for players. The Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) has been on a forced break since concluding with a six-team playoff in June, meaning 18 of the 24 clubs have seen no competitive action in nearly half a year.

Not that the season before was any better. The league ended prematurely after 24 rounds of games, following a two-month break for the FIFA World Cup; no champions were declared but Lobi Stars were picked as the nation's CAF Champions League representatives.

https://global.espn.com/football/wafu-c ... re-straits

What kind of country will succeed in any sport with this kind shambolic behavior? When you talk dem collaborating thieves go say you too dey complain.

Gotti wrote:

JACKAL wrote:We just failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics

Is anyone really surprised?

Several senior players (including WWC 2019 skipper Desire Oparanozie, Onome Ebi, Rita Chikeluba, etc.) were blacklisted and prohibited from being called-up by the NFF for reportedly leading the protest for the payment of the Falcons’ unpaid allowances and bonuses, and the assistant coaches fired (apparently for being sympathetic towards the protests), causing the substantive coach Tom Dennerby to excuse himself and stay away from this qualifier, and resulting in the hurried appointment of Chris Danjuma as caretaker coach of an NFF-selected squad. You reap what you sow!

Orion wrote:Falcons have not qualified for the Olympics since 2008 but have continued to win the African championships and qualify for the world cup. It seems we've dropped the ball when it comes to the Olympics and this happened long before Pinnick assumed office. This is despite CAF slots being increased to 2 teams.

iworo wrote:Sunday Dare vows to probe Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games miss



The African champions failed to qualify for the quadrennial tournament for the third consecutive time
Nigeria's Sports Minister Sunday Dare has disclosed that he will dig into what led to the country's exit from the Africa Women's Olympic Qualifiers against Cote d'Ivoire.

Kapho Nani fired Clementine Toure's side ahead in the 12th minute but Asisat Oshoala levelled 16 minutes from half time to ensure the teams played out a 1-1 draw at Agege Stadium, Lagos on Monday.

Following a 0-0 first-leg draw in Abidjan, the 1-1 result on aggregate means the Super Falcons bowed out of the qualification series on the third consecutive attempt, on away goals.

The disappointed Minister has assured he would launch an inquiry into the cause of the team's exit, including the circumstance surrounding Thomas Dennerby's alleged resignation.


"Our Super Falcons, unfortunately, failed to secure a ticket to the Olympics even though they were gallant," Dare posted via his Twitter handle.

"This offers an opportunity to dig into what led to this failure and to take proactive steps for the future and Nigeria’s football administration."

Olympic qualifiers: Our Super Falcons unfortunately failed to secure a ticket to the Olympics even though they were galant. This offers an opportunity to dig into what led to this failure and to take proactive steps for the future and Nigeria’s football administration.

— Sunday Dare (@SundayDareSD) October 7, 2019

In September, Dare had intervened in the alleged contractual issues between the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Dennerby, but the latter refused to return to his post.

https://www.goal.com/en/news/super-falc ... ml4de7oc2k

Gotti wrote:

Orion wrote:Falcons have not qualified for the Olympics since 2008 but have continued to win the African championships and qualify for the world cup. It seems we've dropped the ball when it comes to the Olympics and this happened long before Pinnick assumed office. This is despite CAF slots being increased to 2 teams.

We Nigerians just love to chase shadows...

We all know what destabilized the team, but prefer to embark on history lessons..
Players were blacklisted for asking for their dues, and coaches were fired for supporting them. QED!
>

Gotti wrote:

Orion wrote:Falcons have not qualified for the Olympics since 2008 but have continued to win the African championships and qualify for the world cup. It seems we've dropped the ball when it comes to the Olympics and this happened long before Pinnick assumed office. This is despite CAF slots being increased to 2 teams.

We Nigerians just love to chase shadows...

We all know what destabilized the team, but prefer to embark on history lessons..
Players were blacklisted for asking for their dues, and coaches were fired for supporting them. QED!
>

Benedict Iroha wrote:It's not like they will medal anyway.