Nigeria broken-hearted
ByReuters
Published 08/10/2005 at 19:28 GMT
Nigerian soccer players and fans went home broken-hearted on Saturday after the Super Eagles thrashed Zimbabwe 5-1 but failed to qualify for next year's World Cup finals.Nigeria, who made it to the last three World Cup finals, were thwarted by Angola who
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Nigeria and Angola finished with equal points but the Angolans went through on a better head-to-head record against the Nigerians.
"Ah, Angola, Angola! Why have you done this to us?" asked Goodness Diji, throwing her arms up to the heavens and wringing her rain-soaked green-and-white scarf after the final whistle blew.
"The whole team is very very sad. Nobody is happy because we didn't qualify. Even if we'd beaten them (Zimbabwe) 10-0 we would not be happy now," said Nigeria star Nwankwo Kanu.
A sea of fans in green and white cheered and beat drums as their team demolished Zimbabwe in the national stadium in Abuja, but many were frantically sending text messages throughout the match to find out what was happening in Kigali.
Obafemi Martins scored at close range in the 34th minute to put Nigeria 1-0 ahead, and a rumour swept the terraces that Rwanda had scored against Angola, sending Nigeria fans racing around and jumping for joy.
But as word spread that the rumour was untrue, nervous Nigerians bit their nails and some sought divine intervention to keep the Angolans in check.
Adding to the tension, a storm broke out at half-time and the players returned to the pitch in driving rain as thunder and lightning roared and flashed just over the stadium.
A lively second half saw Yusuf Ayila scoring in a scramble after a corner kick in the 50th minute.
Zimbabwe fought back and Benjani Mwaruwari headed in a corner kick in the 70th minute, but Nigeria answered five minutes later with a penalty from Martins and Kanu made it 4-1 with another penalty in the 80th minute.
Then came disaster. Groans of despair filled the terraces as news raced through the crowd of a dramatic late winner by Angola captain Akwa in Kigali.
Fans could not even muster a cheer for Peter Odemwingie when he scored Nigeria's fifth goal in the 90th minute, and the crowd filed quickly out of the stadium in grim silence.
Some mournful fans recalled the Super Eagles' disappointing performances in previous qualifiers, especially against Rwanda who held them to a draw.
"This result will make our boys know their mistakes. They will prepare better next time," said Matthew Chukwudi.
Even the defeated Zimbabweans felt sorry for their tormentors. "They performed so well today, they deserved to go through. I feel very very sorry for them," said Zimbabwe captain Peter Ndlovu.
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