18th April, 2013
Former Green Eagles player, Felix Owolabi, has said that the Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets were overconfident going into their match against the Young Elephants of Ivory Coast in the CAF U-17 Championship in Marrakech, Morocco, yesterday.
The former Nigerian international posited that too much confidence ruined the Eaglets hence their 0-1 defeat which has taken the shine off their 6-1 bashing of the Black Starlets in their first game of the tournament. The defeat has put the Nigerian team in a tight corner to win their next match against Congo on Saturday.
The former defunct Racca Rovers of Kano said he was not surprised that Nigeria lost to Ivory Coast. He said the Manu Garba youngsters lost concentration and focus after they whitewashed Ghana in the opening match.
“I am not surprised with the result because our boys were too confident after beating Ghana. They thought they have arrived, but this defeat is a lesson to them.
Secondly, our players should realize that they still have a long way to go because they need to qualify for the World Cup,” he said.
Ivory Coast are leading the group with four points, followed by Nigeria with three points, while Congo and Ghana have two points and one point respectively.
The Eaglets and Ivory Coast were heading for a goalless draw when Dogbole Niangbo profited from a defensive mistake to score in the 90th minute. The events that led to the goal saw a Nigerian defender fail to stay on his feet while chasing a clearance; and as he fell, the Ivorian player quickly sent a long ball into the box which the keeper Adeyinka Adewale could not cope with; and as the Nigerians tried to stop Kouassi Begbin scoring he squared for Niangbo who slotted it home.
—Sunday Akintoye