Siasia Apologises For Nations Cup Failure

Super Eagles Coach, Samson Siasia has apologised to Nigerians following his team’s  2 – 2 draw with Guinea at the weekend in Abuja and their inability to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and  Gabon.

“We want to apologise to all Nigerians. We have not qualified for the Nations Cup and we take responsibility as a team,” coach Samson Siasia said at the weekend.

“We did our best, we dominated the game, we created chances but we failed to take our chances and we gave up a last minute goal.

“We  understand the frustration of the fans because they love their team so much. But sometimes football can be cruel.”

Nigeria has now failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations for the first time since 1986 after a last minute goal from Guinea saw them draw their final qualifier 2-2.

Against the run of play, Ismael Bangoura gave Guinea the lead in the second half but Victor Obinna Nsofor levelled. Nigeria then went ahead as substitute Ikechukwu Uche scored, but Ibrahim Diallo struck with seconds remaining to knock out the Super Eagles, who has now joined African giants Cameroon and Egypt in failing to make it to the tournament.

South Africa also suffered heartbreak after thinking they were through following a 0 – 0 draw with Sierra-Leone. Bafana Bafana celebrated at the end of the game as Niger lost 3-0 to Egypt, but the record in Group G. favoured Niger and they progressed to the finals for the first time.

Teams who have qualified for the AFCON include Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea, Zambia, Angola, Tunisia, Mali, Niger, Libya (best runner-up).

For the last automatic place, Algeria took on the Central African Republic yesterday, while Morocco also faced Tanzania in the same Group D. Any one of the four teams could qualify, with Sudan also possible qualifier as the second-best runners-up if the results went their way last night.

Gold Monday