2016-10-30

Since winning the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa, Nigeria have not found it rosy on the continent as they have failed to qualify for the next two editions of the African showpiece.

The pain of missing the 2015 Nations Cup is still a fresh wound in the minds of many and it hurts even more that the team will not feature at the 2017 edition of the tournament.

Here we look at some games played by the Super Eagles that will still make Nigeria fans sad if remembered.

1990 AFCON: Algeria 1 – 0 Nigeria

At the finals of the 1990 African Cup of Nations which was the 17th edition of the championship, the hopes and expectation of every Nigerian was for the Eagles to lift the trophy, but against all odds Algeria won the championship beating Nigeria 1 – 0.



Clip from the match between Algeria and Nigeria

The Super Eagles played well in this game, but their profligacy at goal prevented them from lifting the trophythat year.

Spain 1982 World Cup qualifier (Algeria 4 – 1 Nigeria)

That year would have been the first time that Nigeria would have qualified for their first ever World Cup campaign, but Algeria burst their balloon by winning 4 – 1 on aggregate.



Action during a match between Nigeria and Algeria in 1982

After losing the first leg 0 – 2 in Lagos to Algeria which was a tragic shock to many Nigerian fans, Algeria went on to win the second leg 2 – 1 as the North Africans and Cameroon represented Africa at the 1982 World Cup held in France.

READ ALSO: Rohr invites 24 players for Algeria showdown

1998 World Cup (Nigeria 1 – 4 Denmark)

On June 28, 1998, Nigeria recorded one of their worst result on the international scene after being trashed 4 – 1 by Denmark at the Stade de France, Saint Denis.

The Danish side went on to score two quick goals in the 3rd and 12th minute of play through Laudrup and Sand.

Sand scored again in the 60th minute before Helveg sealed the victory for Denmark. The Super Eagles got their consolation goal in the 78th minutes through Tijani Babangida.



Super Eagles

2014 World Cup (Nigeria 0 – 2 France)

Once again, the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the quarter final of the World Cup where the Stephen Keshi tutored side Nigeria lost 2 – 0 to France.

The moment Paul Pogba of France opened the scoring against Nigeria

Manchester United’s midfielder Paul Pogba opened scoring for France, and Nigeria fans were of the belief that the Super Eagles would restore parity considering their superb form.

The awkward moment came when former Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo compounded the team’s woes when he netted an own-goal to shut the possibility of an equalizer.

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