Injuries
Injuries to all the players except Ifeanyi Nweke did not favour the CHAN Eagles against the Atlas Lions of Morocco.
Some vital players in the team had to play the final game against Morocco on pain killers
One of the defenders play battling with malaria
Unknown to millions of football loving Nigerians, Dele Ajiboye was the only fit goalkeeper in the final game against Morocco. Ikechukwu Ezenwa was injured against Sudan and Theophilus Afelokhai was nursing a shoulder injury he sustained on the first day of training in Tanger,Morocco.
Fatigue
The CHAN Eagles was the most travelled team at the tournament. Nigeria played in Tanger, then played her last game in Agadir against Equitorial Guinea.
The team travelled to Marrakesh for the Semi final game against Sudan, where they won 1-0.
The team then travelled to Casablanca for the final game against Morocco.
Fatigue had already played a negative part on the players before they filed to the pitch against Morocco.
Terrible Weather
Abdulwahab Ben Khalifa , a Tunisian fan informed me on Saturday evening when he saw the way i was dressed due to the cold weather to prepare for the worse the following day and it was indeed a very terrible weather.
It began to rain early on Sunday morning and it rained all through the game. It was a very cold weather 3°C min night temperature as the progressed that evening and what do you expect from home based team players.
The weather terribly the performance of the players .The field was wet with cold and the players felt as if they were playing on the ice.
Meanwhile… The Camp of Morocco
The Atlas Lions of Morocco were completely at home.The team played all their games at Casablance.
The word “ Fatgue “ was far from the camp of the Atlas Lions of Morocco.
The team only had minor knocks to few players, the rest were fresh waiting to devour the Eagles.
The whole of Morocco, from the palace to the streets gave support to their team ,as they clamoured to win a major international football tournament since 1976 when the country won the African Nations Cup for their first time and only time.
The Referee was not fair with some of his decisions, which went against the CHAN Super Eagles and some Moroccans even attest to this at the end of the game.
At the end of 90 minutes, it was 4-0 against the CHAN Eagles of Nigeria.
In conclusion, i give kudos to the technical crew and the entire backroom staff of the CHAN Super Eagles led by Coach Salisu Yusuf for leading and motivating these players to play in the final , where they ended up winning a silver medal for the first time in the history of football in Nigeria.
