Football: Nigeria eliminated from CHAN 2024 following heavy defeat to Sudan, Chelle blames “mistakes”
by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath
Super Eagles suffer major CHAN disappointment
Nigerian football has endured a tough year in the international football scene, now winless in their last six matches in regulation time, while having only managed five wins in their last 15 games across all competitions dating back to the start of September 2024.
During that period, the Super Eagles have recorded one win, four draws and one loss in their six CAF World Cup qualifier matches, which has left them in fourth place in their group, six points off current leaders South Africa and staring elimination in the face, barring a stunning comeback over the coming months.
The African Nations Championship was therefore seen as a crucial tournament for the team to rediscover some form and bring some much-needed confidence back to the side. Unfortunately, that has not been the case as the homegrown Super Eagles are now eliminated from the competition following their 4-0 defeat to Sudan on Tuesday night.
The Falcons of Jediane’s victory in Zanzibar over the West African Giants has gone down as one of the biggest upsets in the history of this tournament and propelled Sudan to the top of Group D, while Eric Chelle’s side are bottom of the table, still on zero points and have just one game left to play. Speaking after the game, Chelle said:
“We enjoyed the first twenty minutes, we played our football, and we scored a goal. After that, we made a lot of mistakes and conceded the equaliser in the second half. We gave away four goals from mistakes.”
With Chelle and co’s fate for CHAN 2024 now decided, all that they can do is try to refocus and salvage some form of pride when they face Congo in their final match of the competition on August 19 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Tanzania.
CHAN qualification scenario ahead of final week
The 2024 African Nations Championship is set to enter the final week of group stage action, and the qualification scenario in each section is starting to heat up as teams scramble for a top-two spot to earn entry to the quarter-final on August 22 and 23.
As it stands, Tanzania is the only team to have secured their place in the knockout stage, having picked up three wins in three matches in Group B. In Group A, Kenya requires one point from their final match to progress, while Angola, Morocco and DR Congo are still in the running.
Behind Tanzania, Mauritania or Madagascar can still clinch the second qualification spot. Group C has four teams still in the running, with Uganda two points clear at the top ahead of Algeria and South Africa, with Guinea still in the picture.
Group D is the only one in the tournament that is made up of four teams, and Sudan, Senegal, and Congo will enter the final week still in with a chance of moving on to the last eight. Nigeria, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic are the three teams that have already been eliminated from the competition.
