Losses to Thailand, Korea, MENA (Middle East and North Africa), with two draws against Kenya and eventual finalists, Singapore, condemned Nigeria to first round elimination from this year’s Standard Chartered Trophy tournament at Anfield, Liverpool.
Team Nigeria to Liverpool: Standing, left to right: Opeyemi Dairo, Pelumi Joseph, Oladipo Lawani Toochukwu Amachoi.
Squatting, left to right: Amrit Ratnani, Taofeek Edidi, Demola Omitayo.
But it was the 1-0 loss to Gambia in their last group game which they could have won for pride that was most disappointing.
Team captain and goalkeeper, Demola Omitayo, who led by example by pulling off many daring saves, is not one to give excuses.
“We let ourselves down badly,” he said matter-of-factly. “We didn’t translate our match plans on the pitch, which was regrettable.
“People have told me we tried our best; but that, for me, is not good enough. We threw away leads against Kenya and Singapore in the last minute, and then lost to Gambia whom every other team in our group had beaten. I am very disappointed because I know we could have done a lot better,” he said.
There was a positive side to Nigeria’s participation, however. Despite the disappointing results, the team maintained a good attitude throughout the competition.
Standard Chartered’s Dayo Aderugbo, the team’s chaperon, was impressed by the players’ comportment.
“We may not have won the tournament, but our players were really good ambassadors for Nigeria. I am proud of them and I believe we will do better next year,” she said.
Vietnam emerged winners of the tournament after shocking the defending champions, Thailand, 2-0 in the semi-final and completed a surprising run of results by beating Singapore 1-0 in the final.