President-General of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club
(NFSC), Rafiu Ladipo, has slammed the Super Eagles for losing a “winnable
match” against France in the last-16 of the 2014 World Cup.
Ladipo stated that prior to the tournament, he was
confident that Nigeria would surpass their previous performances in the
competition, but he was left disappointed by their defeat to Les Bleus.
“I was one of those who came here confident that we will
surpass our previous World Cup record. Crashing out in the second round was to
me not good enough,” Ladipo fumed.
“We were there before 16 years ago and attaining that
same feat here is really no big deal. Keshi and his boys had the opportunity to
make history but they blew it.”
Ladipo was also critical of the players who staged
protests over bonuses prior to the game, accusing them of putting their
personal interests ahead of the nation's.
“The match against France was winnable if only the team
had remained focused before the game. But rather than look at the bigger
picture and putting national interest first, the boys were more interested in
money, which they got before the game. And with money in their pocket they felt
whatever result they get in the game against France won’t be a big deal.”
Ladipo insists Nigeria's cause was not helped by what he
described as coach Stephen Keshi's poor selection of players for the mundial.
“Keshi did not help himself by coming to Brazil with a
good number of players who had no business being in the Eagles squad and
leaving out players like Ike Uche and Haruna Lukman.”
Culled from Kickoffnigeria
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