Fans Demand, As Eagles FumbleIN 2006, the Ibrahim Galadima-led Nigeria Football Association (NFA) failed to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup. He was sacked.Four years later in 2010, Sani Lulu Abdullahi, who succeeded Galadima failed with the team in the first round of the South Africa 2010 World Cup. He was sent packing.Now, the Super Eagles have failed to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations and the fans are calling for a purge in both the NFF and the Super Eagles technical crew led by Samson Siasia.On a day so much was expected from the team, they put every foot wrong in a match they needed to win 1-0 to book a place in the finals of the continental showpiece in Equatorial Guinea/Gabon next year.Not even the goodwill message from President Goodluck Jonathan, who appealed to the players not to let their fellow country people down; nor the cash rewards promised them by beverage giant, Pepsi and other Nigerians, could inspire the Eagles to fly, as the match ended 2-2.For several minutes after the match ended, protesting fans overpowered security operatives at the National Stadium, Abuja and held the Eagles hostage.Apart from calling for the sack of the Maigari-led board, the fans equally demanded the sack of Siasia, whom they accused of being highhanded by dropping a 'more efficient goalkeeper,' Vincent Enyeama, from the squad.The protest by the angry fans led to a delay in the usual post-match conference. Even when the dust settled for the briefing to hold, no Nigerian player was ready to entertain any question from journalists, who were obviously disappointed that the team failed to qualify for the Nations Cup.Some of the fans were unhappy with the team selection. They said that Siasia failed to read the fitness level of the players properly before selecting the squad for yesterday's game.One of the fans, who identified himself only as Sule, asked angrily: 'What did Siasia see in Osaze Odemwingie and Chinedu Ogbuke' They contributed to the failure of the team in this match.'Instead of allowing his tactics to do the talking for him, Siasia was busy claiming in the media that Osaze has the magic to do this and that.'Well, as far as I am concerned, Siasia has failed and there is no need keeping him. He should go. As for the NFF, they concentrated all energy, fighting unnecessary war with the NPL. They should all go away.'Meanwhile, Siasia has issued an apology to Nigerians after the Super Eagles drew 2-2 against Guinea to miss out on the 2012 African Nations Cup.'We want to apologise to all Nigerians. We have not qualified for the Nations Cup and we take responsibility as a team,' Siasia said.'We did our best. We dominated the game, we created chances, but we failed to take our chances and we gave up a last-minute goal.'We understand the frustration of the fans because they love their team so much. But sometimes, football can be cruel.'.Nigeria finished on 11 points, which was not enough to finish as one of two best runners-up.
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