CHAN Eagles or The Super Eagles B team covered themselves in glory as they defeated Congo in their last group match yesterday at the Benjamin Mkapa stadium, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. The team had lost their first two games: a 1-0 loss to Senegal in the opening fixture after Leo Ngenge and Mustapha Lawal’s defensive mix-up and a 4-0 thrashing from Sudan on match day 2.
The first two results ensured that Nigeria was knocked out of the 8th Africa Nations Championship hosted by Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. The team then played for pride against Congo and soared high as Anas Yusuf scored the opener in the 2-0 win.
The Super Eagles had not scored any goals before the Congo game, but NPFL25’s highest goal scorer, Anas Yusuf, was on hand to jab into the net Sikiru Alimi’s header back into the 6-yard box in the 56th minute. This lifted some weight off the players as they searched for another goal.
The search was rewarded in the last minutes of the game as Alimi scored his own goal off a Sodiq Ismail inch-perfect kick. The striker’s deft header was enough to put the ball past the goalkeeper for Nigeria’s second. The goals meant that Niger is the only country not to have scored in this tournament.
The 2-0 result meant that Nigeria finished 3rd in the group.
Watch Chelle’s full post-match press conference thoughts after the Congo win on the NPFL Tori YouTube page
CHAN Eagles not Mentally Ready
The Nigerian team showed better performance against Congo. It was far from what they displayed against Sudan and Senegal. Eric Chelle had stated in the pre-match presser before the Sudanese game that the players need to show some mentality.
He mentioned the same thing before the game against Congo and repeated the statement after Congo’s win.
“The boys were not ready mentally. They just were not ready. This is my analysis today. If you did come for the training sessions, you see the players were not ready.”
On the win, the Franco-Malian says he and his team have a lot of regret after the win
“I think we deserve to win this game because we had the possession; we tried to play, we only missed perfection in the final third in the first half but we played better in the second half and today we have lot of regrets (losing the first two games).”
CHAN Eagles: “The players did not let me down.”
There had been lots of opinions from fans around the country that the players are of poor quality and were the reasons for the bad results. Nigeria conceded 5 goals in the first two games, with 3 of them self-inflicting.
When asked if the players let him down, the gaffer said the players did not let him down.
“I think they did not let me down. I think they were just scared. They did not have the experience and for a tournament like this, they need experience.”
With the CHAN 2024 done and dusted, Eric Chelle will now focus on the 2026 World Cup qualifiers games coming up in early September. The Super Eagles will face Rwanda in Uyo, the Godswill Akpabio stadium, before facing the toughest game of the qualifiers against the Bafana Bafana in South Africa.
To have a chance of qualification to the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, Eric Chelle must win both games.