Super Eagles goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi who was in goal when South Africa defeated Nigeria 2-0 in the AFCON 2019 Qualifiers has broken his silence over the loss which handed South Africa their first win over Nigeria in competitive games.
Akpeyi was roundly blamed for the two goals Nigeria conceded in the game, but the 29 year old Chippa United goalkeeper said they lost as a team, and no single individual should be singled out for blame over the loss.
The Super Eagles second choice shot stopper called on the fans of the team to back them in their remaining qualifiers in the AFCON 2019 Qualifiers and also the World Cup 2018 Qualifiers which will resume in September.
“None of us is happy with the sad turn of event, we never went into the game with a mind to lose to South Africa.
“Nigerians are too quick to condemn and pass judgment, a little error everybody is quick to throw stone.
“We have won several matches in the past whether by luck or not and the encomium is understandably endless.
“If we continued to be sentimental in our discourse especially when things went wrong things will not work well.
“We got it wrong tactically, we were doing well in the first half and in the second half we were anxious for goal, that’s where we lost it.
“As a result of which we conceded a goal and eager for the equaliser we opened our defence and the South Africans cut us off guard coupled with one or two mistakes to score the second goal.
“It was one of the bad days in football having to start our Afcon ticket chase on a losing note.
“Well there is a whole lot of lesson we have learned from the loss which will guide us in subsequent matches.
“I believe we still have hope in the qualifying race with the other matches on the Afcon calendar.
“I know for certain that we will get back on track to position ourselves towards claiming the sole ticket in the group,” said the Chippa United shot stopper to Supersport.
Ade Emmanuel
