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Nigeria’s Post-mortem Begins
EVEN WITH the match for third place still to play on Saturday, 17 January at the Mohammed the Fifth (V) Stadium in Casablanca, the post-mortem of Nigeria’s participation at the 2025 AFCON here in Morocco has begun already. The hottest topic on the agenda is the fate of Eric Chelle: Is he to stay or not to stay as coach of the Super Eagles after the tournament?
Regular readers of my daily diary since the start of the AFCON know my position on the subject. As far back as our second match in the group phase against Tunisia, I had cast my vote for Chelle to remain, “whether we win the tournament or not.” The performance of his team in subsequent matches have only strengthened my position, not weakened it. But I will come back to this subject presently.
In yesterday’s diary, I confessed that I struggled to write the entry just “to fulfill all righteousness” and so that readers would not think that I chickened out because my two predictions for the final fell flat. Well, it’s more than 24 hours now since the Super Eagles lost that pulsating semi-final to Morocco. Now that we have accepted and digested the reality of our elimination, we can analyze the game with clearer heads and less emotion.
First, let me talk about the officiating by the Ghanaian center referee Daniel Laryea which I deliberately did not comment on in my immediate post-match analysis. I observed that most feedback that I received accused the match officials of bias in favour of the Moroccans. My response is that the referee did not commit any “major sin” such as disallowing a legitimate goal by the Super Eagles or giving the Moroccans a dubious penalty kick. If all we can accuse him of is leaning toward the home team in 50-50 situations or in some situations that did not even exist which I will describe here as “borderline bias,” we have to accept that reality. In fact, the Eagles would have been naive not to prepare for it.
I hinted about the possibility of “borderline bias” in my post-match analysis of the quarter-final clash between Morocco and Cameroun which Morocco won 2-0. Although I didn’t express any sympathy for the Indomitable Lions who were on the receiving end on that occasion, I warned the Super Eagles to brace up for some “unfavorable or unfair refereeing.” It’s all there in my previous diaries. Therefore, I was not surprised by center referee Laryea’s border line bias. In fact, in my opinion, he didn’t go overboard by committing what would have constituted a “major sin.”
Second, I ignored talk of referee bias in the immediate aftermath of the game because I didn’t want us (Nigeria) to join the bandwagon of Algeria and Cameroun who put the blame for their elimination from this AFCON squarely on the shoulders of the match officials, whereas greater evidence suggests otherwise. Algeria submitted a formal protest to CAF over the handling of their quarter-final clash with Nigeria, even when the Super Eagles clearly outclassed them. Cameroun also protested vehemently against the officiating of their quarter-final against Morocco which has now earned their FA President, Samuel Eto’O, a CAF suspension and a $20,000 US Dollars fine that he is expected to appeal.
South African journalist Mark Gleeson in his report for Reuters, like many others, mocked the Algerians for having the temerity to complain when they were so comprehensively outclassed by the Super Eagles in a one-sided game. Nigeria was not comprehensively outclassed by Morocco, but I don’t want us to go down the same path with Algeria and Cameroun as cry-babies. The Super Eagles fought a good fight against Morocco for 120 minutes and lost gallantly on penalties despite all the odds against them. Perhaps the outcome might have been different if the match was played on a neutral ground. The reality, however, is that the match was played in Morocco and home advantage does count for something in club and international football.
When the margin between opposing teams in a football match is so close like it was between the Super Eagles and the Atlas Lions, other factors ultimately will decide the outcome. In this case, I’m firmly of the opinion that it was the 12th player – the Moroccan fans – that gave the Atlas Lions the psychological edge, not the match officials who seemed happy that the match was decided in a penalty shootout, so no one can blame them for the outcome.
Talking of the penalty shootout, I also received some feedback questioning the substitution of Victor Osimhen just as the shootout was looming. Two readers suggested that “Osimhen stylishly dogged the shootout” presumably because he wasn’t confident of scoring. Coach Eric Chelle debunked this assumption in his post-match conference when he said the Eagles presented their best five penalty takers based on their statistics during their training sessions.
Although I also found it curious that Osimhen who takes penalties regularly for Galatasaray in Turkey was not amongst Nigeria’s chosen five, we have to believe Chelle’s account of events. Besides, it was clear that Osimhen was expecting to be substituted ahead of the shootout as he didn’t protest when his number was raised on the sideline by the fourth official. I saw him exchanging a high five with Chelle as he left the pitch and Paul Onuachu, who replaced him, actually scored his penalty kick, brilliantly.
Samuel Chukwueze was not that lucky. His tame penalty was saved by the Moroccan goalkeeper and he (Chukwueze) has been labelled as the villain of Nigeria’s AFCON elimination on social media. I think this is very unfair as we have seen many great starts miss penalty kicks for their countries. But the social media is an unforgiving and unregulated platform where everyone have their say with little or no gatekeeping.
Chukwueze will have to live with this unfortunate label for some time. I do hope that he has a good team around him advising him to ignore the trolling and move on with his life and career.
The Case for Eric Chelle
Now, let us return to the matter of Coach Eric Chelle: Is he to stay or not to stay as Super Eagles supremo after the AFCON? Aside from his impressive performance in this tournament which is there for all to see, there are many other factors which make retaining him the sensible thing to do. I will list just a few here….
- CONTINUITY: This is the most obvious reason to retain Eric Chelle. Nigeria did not qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup primarily because the Nigeria Football Federation committed the grave error of changing coaches too often during the qualifiers. Some of the changes, like Finidi George’s sudden resignation, were forced on the FA, but others were simply ludicrous. By the time Chelle arrived on the scene, we were playing catch-up in the qualifying series.
One of the campaigns that I supported and later came to regret as a football columnist was the removal of Shaibu Amodu and Stephen Keshi as Super Eagles coaches ahead of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Since then, I have always argued in favour of continuity, allowing coaches to complete their contract tenures, “win or lose,” and extending their contract when they have done well. Chelle has done well and he should be given an extension up till at least the 2028 AFCON or the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
- AFFORDABILITY: I have often been asked by friends and acquaintances why Nigeria does not employ some “high grade coaches” as they describe them. My standard response is that high grade coaches attract high grade salaries that Nigeria cannot afford. The coaches that we have been employing are those we can afford, so we should make the best of them. Even then, we still struggle to pay these “affordable” coaches regularly, so we should simply stop dreaming about some so-called high grade coaches coming to work here.
Chelle is affordable and he is not complaining too much to the media when his salary is delayed. That makes him the “perfect coach” for Nigeria because his affordable salary will continue to be delayed.
- FAMILIARITY: Eric Chelle is African, even if he is Franco-African. Being from Mali, he is conversant with the moods and characteristics of the African players and how to get the best out of them. He demonstrated this with his Malian national team that he took to the quarter-finals of the 2023 AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire, and he has demonstrated it again by taking the Super Eagles to the semi-finals here in Morocco. He is in very familiar surroundings, the players like him and he is down-to-earth with them. Why should we break up what seems to be a perfect (and productive!) relationship between the coach and his players.
- MODESTY: I am aware of agitations in some quarters back home that Nigeria should be led now by a Nigerian coach. But I think we should be modest about our capabilities and not sacrifice merit on the alter of nationalism. Chelle has merited his appointment. Nigerian coaches should work harder to also merit their appointment.
The world, and especially the world of sports, is a complete global village now with nationalities becoming non-existent amongst sports professionals. The Brazilian national team is coached now by an Italian, Carlo Ancelloti, while England is led by a German, Thomas Tuchel. These would have been totally unheard of in the past, but they’re today’s reality. If Nigeria finds a Nigerian coach with the knowledge and pedigree to lead the Eagles, all well and good. But in the absence of one at the moment, a Malian is not too far away from us. In fact, he is already with us!
THE SENEGALESE ARE HERE
*Senegal supporters have started arriving here in Rabat ahead of their AFCON final showdown with Morocco on Sunday, 18 January. All of sudden, Moroccan fans and taxi drivers no longer ask if we’re Nigerians? They ask if we’re Senegalese. Their focus has shifted from Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman. Now, they’re asking about Sadio Mane.
Before kickoff of our semi-final against Morocco on Wednesday, I was very proud when the stadium announcer did a special introduction of the CAF African Footballers of the Year that would be on parade. The introduction of Osimhen (2023) and Lookman (2024) attracted ceaseless whistling from Moroccan fans as their photos appeared on the large screens in the arena. But when Achraf Hakimi (2026) was introduced and his photo showed up, the whistles could have woken up the dead.
Sadio Mane (2019 and 2022) will likely receive a similar recognition on Sunday and he will get a similar reception like Osimhen and Lookman.
You ask for my Mr.ChefNigeria prediction for the final? Now I know that you’re my ‘frienenemy!’ See you tomorrow……
EAGLES TARGET THE BRONZE
*Coach Eric Chelle and team captain Wilfred Ndidi are scheduled to speak at the pre-match conference on Friday the 16th as the Super Eagles prepare to face the Pharaohs of Egypt in the AFCON 2025 third place playoff on Saturday the 17th of January, 2026.
Nigeria has never lost this classification match in AFCON history and its eight bronze medals is the highest on the all-time table. Two of those were won on Egyptian soil in 2006 and 2019. The other six were secured in Ethiopia (1976), Ghana (1978), Senegal (1992), Mali (2002), Tunisia (2004) and Angola (2010).
By contrast, Egypt have three bronze medals won in Ghana (1963), Sudan (1970) and at home (1974). They finished 4th twice in Ethiopia (1976) and Nigeria (1980).
Below is the full head-to-head history between
Nigeria and Egypt:
1 January 1960 — Nigeria 2-1 Egypt
24 November 1963 — Nigeria 3-6 Egypt
14 January 1973 — Nigeria 4-0 Egypt
14 March 1976 — Nigeria 3-2 Egypt
8 October 1977 — Nigeria 4-0 Egypt
21 October 1977 — Egypt 3-1 Nigeria
15 March 1980 — Nigeria 1-0 Egypt
20 February 1983 — Nigeria 1-1 Egypt
14 March 1984 — Nigeria 2-2 Egypt
20 March 1988 — Egypt 0-0 Nigeria
5 March 1990 — Nigeria 1-0 Egypt
30 March 1994 — Egypt 0-0 Nigeria
21 September 1995 — Egypt 1-0 Nigeria
25 November 2002 — Nigeria 1-1 Egypt
12 January 2010 — Egypt 3-1 Nigeria
12 April 2012 — Egypt 3-2 Nigeria
25 March 2016 — Nigeria 1-1 Egypt
29 March 2016 — Egypt 1-0 Nigeria
26 March 2019 — Nigeria 1-0 Egypt
11 January 2022 — Nigeria 1-0 Egypt
16 December 2025 – Egypt 2-1 Nigeria
Summary: Nigeria 9 wins, Egypt 7 wins, 5 draws.
SOURCE: https://sports.yahoo. com/articles/2025-third-place-playoff-history-080000279.html.
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