How Super Eagles failed to grab Pepsi's N50m

OFFICIALS of Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc, makers of Pepsi and other carbonated soft drinks - who had thronged the Abuja National Stadium at the weekend to cheer the Super Eagles to victory and hand over a cheque of N50 million, left the stadium with their cheque after Nigeria failed to beat Guinea and qualify for the 2012 Cup of Nations.In that match, the Super Eagles did not lack in motivation as the football federation and other corporate bodies had also promised the players different cash incentives. However, it was Pepsi's N50 million winning bonus that made the headlines before the match, as the soft drink company had also promised a further N100 million should they go ahead and lift Africa's most prestigious football diadem in Gabon and EquatorialGuinea.But on a day that Osaze Odemwingie was wasteful in front of a yawning goal, Obasi Ogbuke lethargic and Mikel Obi off colour, the Super Eagles broke the hearts of many Nigerians and threw away the chance of pocketing the Pepsi N50 million. Only IkechukwuUche and Ahmed Musa merited honour, as others put up shambolicperformance to the ache of many Nigerian hearts.According to sources, the company was warming up to present the N50 million cheque at the end of the match with Nigeria leading 2-1, believing that they could qualify as one of the best two losers. But the Guineans' last-gap equaliser put paid to all that.Guinea stuck to its game plan of soaking up every pressure from Nigeria and counter attacked when the opportunity came. The Guinean goalkeeper, Naby Yattara, was irritating to watch with his time-wasting tactics and feigned injury at the slightest contact with any Nigeria player.With a yellow card booking in the first half, many Nigerians expected the centre referee to have sent him off with a second yellow card after he laid on the pitch for over 20 minutes yet came back to continue the match.With the defeat, Nigerians are banking on the Olympic team to redeem the country's image by grabbing one of the tickets for next year's Games in London at the qualifiers in Egypt in December.
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