Former Super Eagles striker Julius Aghahowa has blamed goalkeeper Maduka Okoye for the team’s 1-0 loss to Tunisia on Sunday.
Prior to the game against Tunisia, many pundits tipped Nigeria as the favorite to win the tournament after a strong showing in the group stage.
Nigeria won all nine points in the group after defeating Egypt, Sudan, and Guinea Bissau.
However, Youssef Msakni’s second half strike was all the North Africans needed to progress to the quarter finals while Nigeria will be coming home.
Msakni’s shot from 25 yards bounced and caught Okoye off guard and his weak parry was unable to prevent the ball from nestling in the corner of the net.
And Aghahowa, who was a guest analyst on AIT AFCON Coverage, said that he was disappointed with the goalkeeper’s poor judgement of the ball.
“Okoye should have saved that ball because he saw the ball coming towards his direction,” the former Shakhtar Donetsk striker said.
“I am really disappointed and feel he should have done better. This was a game we didn’t deserve to lose at all. But it has happened and we have to accept our fate.”