Out-of-contract Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, has blamed the national team players for the country’s failure to qualify for the AFCON 2015 in Equatorial Guinea.
The erstwhile Togo handler said his players tooK the South Africans too lightly in a match they needed to win to qualify for the tournament finals.
“Maybe we took South Africa for granted and we paid dearly for this,” said the coach, who was only reinstated to his post last month after being sacked by the Nigeria Football Federation.
The Super Eagles finished a disappointing third in Group A on eight points despite a 2-2 draw against South Africa on Wednesday night in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The failure to qualify mirrored the disappointment when Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2012 tournament hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
The scorer of Nigeria’s two goals, Sone Aluko, said the whole team was devastated.
“I am disappointed, everybody is disappointed,” said the Hull City forward. “We did not get the result we wanted and we now have to pick ourselves up as a team.”