Super Eagles keeper, Daniel Akpeyi has expressed that Nigeria’s 2-0 defeat to South Africa in their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group E match was due to the wrong tactical approach to the game.
The goalkeeper was heavily criticised after conceding two goals against Bafana Bafana, who recorded their first ever competitive win over Nigeria in a match which was played in Uyo two weeks ago.
“We got it wrong tactically, we were doing well in the first half and in the second half we were anxious for goal, that’s where we lost it. As a result of which we conceded a goal and eager for the equaliser we opened our defence and the South Africans caught us off guard coupled with one or two mistakes to score the second goal.
“It was one of the bad days in football having to start our AFCON ticket chase on a losing note,” Akpeyi stressed. Well there is a whole lot of lesson we have learned from the loss which will guide us in subsequent matches”, he said.
Speaking further, the Chippa United of South Africa safe hand said Nigerians are too quick to blame the players for any bad outcome of matches as if it was a deliberate act.
“None of us is happy with the sad turn of event; we never went into the game with a mind to lose to South Africa. Nigerians are too quick to condemn and pass judgment, a little error everybody is quick to throw stone.
“We have won several matches in the past whether by luck or not and the encomium is understandably endless. If we continued to be sentimental in our discourse especially when things went wrong things will not work well,” he added.
Akpeyi believes that the Super Eagles can still qualify for the 2019 AFCON finals with five matches left in the qualifying campaign.
“I believe we still have hope in the qualifying race with the other matches on the AFCON calendar,” he indicated.
“I know for certain that we will get back on track to position ourselves towards claiming the sole ticket in the group.”
Packaged by Lanre Olabisi
