Nigeria’s participation at the 21st FIFA World Cup came to an end, after a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Argentina in the final group D game on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the first half, latching on to a brilliant Ever Banega long pass to expertly slot pass Francis Uzoho with his weaker foot to put La Albiceleste 1-0 ahead.
The Super Eagles bounced back through a Victor Moses penalty to level scores at 1-1 early in the second half.
However, just when the Africans thought they had done enough for a point, which would have guaranteed them a place in the knockout phase, Argentina snatched victory.
Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo netted a late volley to hand the two-time winners the win, and all three points to advance to the round of 16 behind group winners, Croatia.
That result ensured Nigeria would be heading home and out of the competition, leaving Nigerians highly disappointed and heartbroken.
Many of them took to their social media accounts to voice their opinions-anger, with a number of them blaming former Watford star, Odion Ighalo, who had two chances to kill the game despite coming on as a second half substitute.
We captured some of the best reactions, and here they are;
Ighalo is certainly the new Yakubu Aiyegbeni, and Nigerians won’t be forgiving him anytime soon.
They really are hurt!
Nigeria had two penalty appeals waved aside by the referee, despite consulting the VAR for one of them. It will be difficult to convince these ones that FIFA is fair, as they believe there is a campaign against African teams.
https://twitter.com/UncleUnilorin/status/1011711862667440130?s=19
https://twitter.com/Gidd_Gr8t/status/1011712863961010176?s=19
Nevertheless, the Super Eagles won’t be playing any further games in Russia, but for these Nigerians, they remain proud of their performance.
And finally, some advice for the Nigeria Football Association from these supporters on how the team should return home and the way forward.
