2017 AFCON: S’Eagles Crash In Egypt

Super Eagles Victor Moses (11) his shots were not close enough to save Nigeria from the hands of the Pharaohs of Egypt twice

Nigeria may have kissed goodbye to her chances of being part of the party when the 2017 African Cup of Nations Kick off in Gabon next year following Super Eagles inability to scale the Egyptian hurdle yesterday in Alexandria, Egypt.
The Pharaohs, after denying Nigeria the much needed three points at the death in the first leg of the double header in Kaduna last Friday, nailed Nigeria’s hopes with a lone goal scored in the 65th minute by Ramadan Sobhy, whose low shot off a poor clearance from a corner kick took a slight deflection to beat impressive Daniel Akpeyi in goal.
After talking the talks before the decisive match by the Eagles, they failed to match it with action and were hardly a threat as the Egyptians effectively caged Odion Ighalo, who was virtually lonely upfront and starved of quality service by his midfielders.
While the Eagles struggled to create an opening throughout the match, the Egyptians were effervescent, threatening Nigerian’s vital area at will.
But last ditch defending and outstanding goalkeeping by Akpeyi kept them at bay, especially in the first half. Infact, it was keeper Akpeyi’s saves that kept the Eagles in the game until the second half.
However, after conceding in the 65th minute, the Eagles seemed to come out of their cocoon and started giving  their hosts something to think about.
With more presence in the final third and a couple of efforts to attempt an equalizer, the Egyptians were pushed back a bit.
As Nigeria chased the game, it became obvious that the Eagles lacked the creativity and incisiveness to breach the robust playing Egyptians. Once again, it was Victor Moses, who could have sealed victory for Nigeria in Kaduna that came closest in Alexandria with a left footed drive that hit the upright and bounced into safety in the 83rd minute.
The Egyptians helped run down the clock but Ighalo still had time to shoot wide in the 86th minute off an assist from substitute Iwobi to cap a disappointing outing for Nigeria.
With the victory, Egypt now has one foot into their first Africa Cup of Nations since 2010 while Nigeria has now missed out on her second consecutive Nations Cup, with seven points and two points, respectively from three matches in the group.
Only an unlikely two big wins for Tanzania, who has one point at the moment, at home to Egypt and away to Nigeria would stop Egypt from attending 2017 AFCON in Gabon.