NIGERIA : After the Super Eagles were crashed out of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations at the hands of Guinea, furious Nigerian supporters threw rocks at their nation's team and coach Samson Siasia could be out of a job

Record ID: 234668

  • Title: NIGERIA : After the Super Eagles were crashed out of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations at the hands of Guinea, furious Nigerian supporters threw rocks at their nation's team and coach Samson Siasia could be out of a job
  • Date: 12th October 2011
  • Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (OCTOBER 11, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FANS WATCHING THE TELEVISED NIGERIA Vs GHANA FRIENDLY PLAYED IN LONDON (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANIEL ANDERSON, FOOTBALL FAN IN LAGOS SAYING: "Only in Nigeria we use calculator who will lose and who will win, so they will qualify only in Nigeria, and we call ourselves a football nation, by now we should be competing with Brazil because we have quality, talented, gifted good players." VARIOUS OF FANS WATCHING TELEVISED MATCH (SOUNDBITE) (English) KASIDI JAMES, FOOTBALL FAN IN LAGOS SAYING: "Some of the Super Eagles players are supposed to be dropped, and go to our local league and pick some players who are fit, but in Super Eagles we believe in names, so someone can even arrive today and we say please go and play, yet he has not been known in any other country, so that is the problem with Super Eagles as of now." FANS ARGUING OVER THE MATCH
  • Embargoed: 27th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Space,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAA13748XE7HZVMJ5YFI19CM853
  • Story Text: Huddled together in a dimly lit night spot in one of Lagos' notorious slums, Nigerian football fans cling to hopes that their national team will redeem itself after loosing out on a place at the continent's top football meet.
    The Super Eagles lost to a well organised Guinean side in the hotly contested Africa Cup of Nations qualifier which ended in a 2-2 draw over the weekend, to the dismay of their home fans.
    Then, on Tuesday night, Nigeria faced a CAN-qualified Ghana in a friendly match played in London that bore no goals.
    A win could have taken away some presssure from the Super Eagles, the 0-0 result instead, battered their image even further.
    Discussions about bad strategy and poorly coordinated Nigerian players hummed under the sound of the British commentators live during the televised match.
    "Only in Nigeria we use calculator who will lose and who will win, so they will qualify only in Nigeria, and we call ourselves a football nation, by now we should be competing with Brazil because we have quality, talented, gifted, good players," said Daniel Anderson, a Nigerian fan.
    As far as Nigeria is concerned the man to blame is coach, Samson Siasia. Local media reported that his job was dependant on the match against Ghana. He has received mounting criticism over the failure of Nigeria to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations.
    But some analysts say the players should carry some of the blame for a string of poor outings, which followed an early knock out from the World Cup last year, and many fans agree.
    "Some of the Super Eagles players are supposed to be dropped, and go to this our local league and pick some players who are fit, but in Super Eagles we believe in names, so someone can even arrive today and we say please go and play, yet he has not been known in any other country, so that is the problem with Super Eagles as at now," Kasidi James, another fan said.
    After Nigeria lost to Guinea, fans hurled insults and pelted the Eagles with rocks prompting the deployment of anti-riot police into the stadium to escort the players away.
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