Following Super Eagles’ unexpected 3-0 defeat by Guinea-Bissau in their 2027 AFCON qualifier on Tuesday, which has continued to generate mixed reactions, the Executive Chairman, Brila Media, Dr Larry Izamoje, says it is childish to put the blame on the bad pitch.

He said that the coaches and his players should accept blame for the scandalous loss, instead of picking on the pitch. “Guinea-Bissau also had Europe-based players in their squad, including players from Fiorentina, Brest and Montpellier,” he said.

Izamoje, one of the legendary Nigerian football league writers, when the nation’s local football was comparable to the best in Africa, told the players and their handlers to look inward for solutions to their poor performance.

The Super Eagles, with three points, currently sit in second position in Group L, with Guinea-Bissau as leader with six points. Madagascar and Tanzania have one point each from two matches. While Tanzania, a co-host of the 2027 AFCON, is guaranteed one of the slots, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau and Madagascar have only one slot to fight for.

But some Nigerian analysts are against the current qualification format adopted by CAF for the Africa Cup of Nations.

He said: “Countries who are hosting the AFCON should either not play the qualifiers or have five countries in the group they play,” the Proprietor of Cable Football Academy, coach Edwin Onovwotafe said.

“In that case, if they finish first, the second and third team gets ticket. Should they finish second, the third team qualifies,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Coach Eric Chelle admitted shortly after the defeat that he could not explain the Super Eagles’ collapse after his side stopped pushing ten minutes into the second half. He said that the team will respond when the opponents visit Uyo.

Chelle admitted that Guinea-Bissau were the better side but pointed to the difficult playing conditions, including the poor pitch and hot weather, as factors that affected his players.

“They were more aggressive than us; they were better than us,” Chelle said. “Though this is not an excuse but they know their pitch, they usually play on this pitch but for us it was the first time and the pitch was very bad and the weather was very hot too.”