Nigeria were knocked out of the tournament yesterday despite leading Group C before kickoff of the final group matches on Tuesday. A lone goal by Guinea condemned the Super Eagles to an early exit after Tunisia comprehensively beat Niger Republic in the other game.
NFF President Amaju Pinnick stated that the African Nations Championship was “both developmental and preparatory for bigger challenges,” adding that the Federation would now shift its attention to the qualification race for the bigger Africa Cup of Nations.
“We apologise to Nigerians for the poor outing of the Super Eagles in Rwanda, but we toe the line of CAF which states that CHAN is a developmental and preparatory competition. Of course, as Nigerians, we love to win always, and we feel bad when we don’t.
“I want us to take the positives from this tournament. A player like Chisom Chikatara broke onto the global platform and players like Usman Mohammed, Chima Akas, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Austin Oboroakpo and Ifeanyi Mathew confirmed their class.
“For me, it is disappointing that we did not progress. But the NFF will now focus on the 2017 AFCON qualifiers, and start preparations early for the remaining rounds,” Pinnick said.
The Super Eagles will resume their qualification bid with a double header against the Pharaohs of Egypt in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying race, with the first leg in Nigeria on March 23 and the return leg in Egypt five days later.
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