Nigeria U-17 out.....

Reigning world and African under-17 champions, Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets, yesterday, failed to qualify for next year’s African Under-17 Championship, after suffering an embarrassing 3-0 loss to the Baby Squirrels of Benin Republic. It was a first round second leg match in the qualifying series for the tournament.
In the return leg fixture played at the Stade d'Lamitie in Cotonou, the coach Alphonsus Dike-tinkered Eaglets, had carried a 2-0 first leg advantage into the tie, with mouthy promises to inflict more damages on their hosts but after regulation time, they were the ones who were left licking their wounds, as they fell like a pack of cards to an inspired Beninois performance, who mastered the Nigerians, in all aspects of the game.
In what would go down as the worst performance by a Golden Eaglets team in recent years, these set of players, were, from the onset of the qualifying series, non-starters, given the way and manner they laboured to beat the Beninois, when both side clashed in the first leg encounter, a fortnight back, in Port Harcourt.

On that occasion, the Eaglets, had laboured to a 2-0 victory, even when it was clear that their foes from next door, were, on the balance of things, the better, in terms of clarity of purpose of good exchange of passes but a combination of tough luck and poor finishing, denied them a result.
But they had sent out the warning signals that they would not be an easy nut to crack in the return leg, which, yesterday, they simply controlled, from the blast of the referee’s whistle as they sought goals to justify their championship’s intentions.

With the tremendous support from their fans, they subdued the charges of Alphonsus Dike, they got their winning goal at injury time, a thunderous volley from outside 35 yards, which caught Nigeria’s goalkeeper, napping as the chants of celebration and party started in earnest for the homers.
They truly deserved their win while Nigeria, who won the African and World titles in 2007, under the tutelage of late Yemi Tella and Benedict Iroha, were undone by poor coaching, which in turn affected the quality of performance put up the players, who were left lamenting the sorry state on the pitch as the Beninois partied.
The Verdict....
What do you guys think? To tell you all the truth, I do not know what to say about this; poor preparation? poor coaching?..Please help me out here.
They were the Champions and now failed to qualify.
Please drop a line lets talk about this, I look forward to reading your Verdict.
Stay tuned and see you soon.