By Uzor Odigbo
Nigerians have expressed shock and utter disbelief in the Super Eagles 0-1 loss against Central Africa Republic (CAR) team in the world cup qualifier played on Thursday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Former Super Eagles player Garba Lawal expressed shock that CAR could beat Eagles in Lagos despite the array of stars in the Eagles team.
“I’m truly speechless and shocked with this result, I didn’t expect it, but that does not mean I underrated the visitors,” he said.
Lawal noted that with CAR ratted 124 in FIFA ranking and Eagles 34, one expected Eagles to have an edge over their opponents, but this didn’t happen.
He had earlier suggested in the second half for the Eagles to open up through the flanks since the opponents were blocking the middle. He also faulted players attitude in not attacking the game the way it should be to get results.
“Beating Eagles at home by a lowly rated CAR clearly speaks volumes about how the Eagles in future matches,” he said.
Also speaking on Eagles defeat, former Eagles left-back, Ifeanyi Udeze regretted the loss, insisting that many things went wrong during play that ought to be corrected.
Udeze lamented the absence of leadership, urgency and agility in the Eagles play and hope that the anomaly would be put right before the second leg on Sunday in Cameroon.
According to him, the Eagles missed lots of chances in both halves and paid dearly for it in the dying minutes of the game when the CAR team converted their goal.
He was optimistic that the second leg would be better for Nigeria as Eagles handlers may have studied the opponents well and plug the loopholes.
Fans went home with bitterness following the unexpected outcome of the game in Lagos.
Cape Verde had earlier on Thursday dispatched Liberia 2-1 in Monrovia
