AFCON Ouster: Coach Ugbade Says Complacency Cost Golden Eaglets World Cup Ticket

By Akinwale Kasali

The 2-1 defeat of Coach Nduka Ugbade-led Golden Eaglets by the Junior Stallions of Burkina Faso has been blamed on unseriousness on the part of the Nigerian players.

The defeat has denied the five-time FIFA World Cup winners participation in the age-grade competition.

Goals from Aboubacar Camara in either half gifted the Burkinabes the World Cup ticket and a place in the ongoing African Cup of Nations tournament in Algeria.

The hopes of Nigerians who put up a brilliant performance during the qualifications at the West African Union, WAFU, where they shone like a million Stars and won the trophy in grand style were dashed.

A disappointed Ugbade who couldn’t hide his feelings over the failure to get the World Cup ticket which he said was the priority and focus of the team before the tournament began weeks back.

Sharing his thought about the match, Ugbade said:

“The players are disappointed of course because they are young but we must support them because they need to continue their careers.”

Ugbade told CAF Media: “We should work on their development because I believe that some of these players will eventually move to the senior national team.

“I am happy with the performance of our players and in such competitions, even if you lose, you gain something by developing the players for the future.

“Everything worked as we had planned, but we could not score with the chances we had. We paid dearly for that. We learn the lessons and move on,” he said.

Criticism has, however, continued to trail the team and its handlers over their inability to get the World Cup ticket.

But former Super Eagles Goalkeeper, Ike Shorounmu has a contrary opinion.

Shorounmu lauded the performance of the Golden Eaglets, saying that the youngsters can learn from the defeat and build on for the future.

According to him, “ The players gave all their best against Burkina Faso but its just unfortunate that their best was not enough.

“I can only encourage the players because missing the 2023 U-17 World Cup won’t be an easy thing to digest. But then it has happened and they must have to move on.”

Football enthusiasts in Enugu State attributed the loss to anxiety and failure to convert their chances.

Chidera Offor, a female footballer with Greenfoot FC ofEnugu, said the players missed good chances in the match as a result of anxiety about coming out second best.

“The boys played well, but in football, if you don’t take your changes when you have them, forget it because it will come back to hunt you,” she said.

“Nigeria started the game on a high, which I really like, and missed the first three golden chances, which is not acceptable in modern football,” she added.

“Secondly they kept falling down on the pitch, every player wanted to score and forgot to try the goalkeeper with a distance shot,”she said

She blamed the defender for fouling the striker, which resulted in the penalty; the defender had closed him down and should have avoided contact with him.

“I must commend the players for reaching this stage; they are young and vibrant. So they have a bright future with a better program,” Offor said.

Coach Blaise Ude expressed disappointment in the technical crew, saying that they are the ones who let the country down by not upholding their responsibilities.

“Imagine your players cannot calm down their nerves in front of the goal post to make a better decision, and everybody wants to score at the same time.

“When everybody wants to score in amatch, you find out that nobody succeeds at the end of the day because football is not an individual sport like boxing,” Ude said.

Nobert Okolie, Rangers Football Club media officer, said the team lost to Burkina Faso because they failed to play as a team.

“From the look of things, the Golden Eaglets do not have a leader at the defense and lack scoring power,” she said.

“We conceded the first goal from a loose ball and the second from a misguided tackle; you can see that we are the cause of our downfall,” he said.