Eagles Depart St Petersburg after Exit from World Cup

• Mikel remains bitter over referee’s refusal to give a second penalty

Duro Ikhazuagbe in St Petersburg

After exiting the ongoing FIFA World Cup here in Russia on Tuesday night with the 2-1 loss to Argentina, some members of the Super Eagles are expected to touch down in Nigeria today.

Eagles who narrowly lost the Group D second ticket to the Lionel Messi inspired South American nation, left Moscow for Lagos yesterday morning via Dubai on an Emirates flight.

Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) Second Vice President, Shehu Dikko, accompanied the players on the flight to Nigeria in company with some other top sports officials.

However, it was not all the 23 players who were in Russia for the Mundial that are going to arrive in Nigeria today. Most of the Europe-based players, NFF sources here confirmed left for their respective cities to join their families on vacations before heading to pre-season training camps.

 “The NFF will meet with the coaches of the team later next week to discuss the programme for the Africa of Nations Cup qualifiers starting next month.

Meanwhile, Captain of the team, John Mikel Obi, remains very said over the decision of Turkish referee, Cuneyt Cakir not to award Nigeria a deserved second penalty.

 ”I don’t understand how that wasn’t a penalty, for me it was a clear handball, clear penalty,” Mikel said at the post-match press conference on Tuesday night.

”If you watched the Portugal match, that wasn’t even close to this, this was even worse, this was open, clear case of a penalty. The ball hit Marcos Rojo’s hand,” stressed the former Chelsea midfielder.

Mikel said that the fact that Nigeria had been awarded a penalty earlier in the game did not over rule another one if it was a deserved one.

”A penalty is a penalty, if you give the first one, you can still give a penalty, we have seen it again in the dressing room, it was a clear penalty, so there wasn’t any way the referee couldn’t give the penalty.

”He (referee) looked at the VAR and told me the ball hit the player’s hand,” concludes the Tianji Teda player in the Chinese Super League.

 

 

REACTIONS TO OUSTER…

*GERNOT ROHR

We have a very young team that still lacks experience. We will come back stronger in four years. 

(On VAR)

I don’t know why the centre referee didn’t give Nigeria penalty for the ball handled in the box by Argentine Marcos Rojo. It was not different from the same handball that earned Portugal a penalty against Iran.

(On use of Bryan Idowu)

When you have  players like Lionel (Messi),  Sergio (Aguero),  Higuain, Dybala etc, you need players who can withstand the pressure without necessarily getting booked. We had two penalties in our first two matches  and tried to avoid having set pieces against us. Previous goals against Nigeria came from purely set pieces. We didn’t want any foul in our goal area. 

(On Continuity)

I hope I can still continue to be around. I have a fantastic team here that can be better with time. 

*JOHN MIKEL OBI

 Young team. We did well but was unable to achieve what we wanted. In four years the team will be better and ready for the world. I’ve never been part of such a fun squad with such great and sociable players before. Ever since the coach joined us, we’ve had a great time. The players listen to him and want to improve, and that’s important for Nigerian football.

*WILLIAM TROOST EKONG

 Hard to describe in words how that felt. It was an emotional rollercoaster. We gave everything against Argentina last night. I’m grateful and proud to have represented Nigeria and all Nigerians at this World Cup. But most of all I am humbled and thank God for bringing me this far

 *LEON BALOGUN

 We showed the world that Nigeria has talented players. We showed that we are a footballing nation, and if the team stays together I hope that we can give an even better account of ourselves in four years’ time.

 *VICTOR MOSES

 A Sad, disappointing evening. Tough defeat

 

ODION IGHALO

 It’s a sad day for me, the boys and the country because we went out in a bad manner and we deserved more in the game. Nobody criticised me, it’s a teamwork. We are 23 players fighting for a single thing. Even if I am criticised, I’ll take it in good faith.