Ex-International Yakubu Aiyegbeni has expressed disappointment over Nigeria’s absence from the 2021 U20 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Flying Eagles put up a lacklustre performance at the WAFU U20 zone B which has cost them a place at the AFCON U20 tournament in Mauritania.
The seven-time African Champions played a 1 – 1 draw against Ivory coast in the opening game, before losing1 – 0 to eventual champions Ghana in their second outing. Thus, dashing their hopes of participating in the continental showpiece.
The former Everton and Middlesbrough forward, saddened by the turn of events told Goal:
“It’s sad, “Not just because we didn’t qualify, but for the young ones at the age of 19 and 20; there will be no way for them to play because they will have to wait for another two years – then, they would be 22.
“They have missed the golden opportunity to play for the Nigerian U20 team.
“It’s a setback and I hope we put things right at the next edition so that we can qualify for the U20 World Cup. It is a big setback for the country in terms of football development.”
According to the 38-year-old, it’s difficult to point out where Ladan Bosso’s boys faltered – however, he suggested that previous mistakes should be corrected to avoid missing the next edition in 2023.
“I didn’t watch any of their [the Flying Eagles] games, but I heard about the results, so I’m not going to say we got it wrong from here or there,” he continued.
“I don’t know what happened, but we didn’t qualify, and I hope we are going to learn from our mistakes. It is sad we didn’t qualify for the U20 African Cup of Nations.”
Ghana ruled Africa again, for the fourth time after seeing off debutants Uganda 2 – 0 in the final.
Gambia and Tunisia are the other teams from the continent to take part in the U20 World Cup scheduled to take place later this year in Indonesia.
