Nigeria’s participation at the 21st FIFA World Cup came to an end, after a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Argentina in the final group D game on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the first half, latching on to a brilliant Ever Banega long pass to expertly slot pass Francis Uzoho with his weaker foot to put La Albiceleste 1-0 ahead.
The Super Eagles bounced back through a Victor Moses penalty to level scores at 1-1 early in the second half.
However, just when the Africans thought they had done enough for a point, which would have guaranteed them a place in the knockout phase, Argentina snatched victory.
Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo netted a late volley to hand the two-time winners the win, and all three points to advance to the round of 16 behind group winners, Croatia.
That result ensured Nigeria would be heading home and out of the competition, leaving Nigerians highly disappointed and heartbroken.
Many of them took to their social media accounts to voice their opinions-anger, with a number of them blaming former Watford star, Odion Ighalo, who had two chances to kill the game despite coming on as a second half substitute.
We captured some of the best reactions, and here they are;
Ighalo is certainly the new Yakubu Aiyegbeni, and Nigerians won’t be forgiving him anytime soon.
They really are hurt!
Nigeria had two penalty appeals waved aside by the referee, despite consulting the VAR for one of them. It will be difficult to convince these ones that FIFA is fair, as they believe there is a campaign against African teams.
#NGAARG so this what the referee saw
— Prince Raymondpic.twitter.com/JI97CFemh0
(@PrinceRaymondHD) June 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/UncleUnilorin/status/1011711862667440130?s=19
https://twitter.com/Gidd_Gr8t/status/1011712863961010176?s=19
They preach against racism yet they are silent RACISTS
— SamCode.Sol (@samCodeNg) June 26, 2018#FIFA #NGAARG
For we wrestle not against flesh & blood, but against demons, against rulers & forces of darkness in high places
— Adetutu Balogun, MBA (@Tutsy22) June 26, 2018
The INEC
The DSS
The Military
The Herdsmen
The NPF / SARs
The Boko Haram terrorists
The President
The Referee!!!
They all collude to cause us suffering#NGAARG
Nevertheless, the Super Eagles won’t be playing any further games in Russia, but for these Nigerians, they remain proud of their performance.
#Supereagles were at their absolute best today! A loss against the talents of #Argentina is not necessarily a sad day; we lost to a good team & arguably the best world player in #Messi.
— StephenEzeOfficial (@DefendLikeEze) June 26, 2018
We are very proud of you all! #soarsupereagles #ARGNGR #worldcup2018 #stepheneze pic.twitter.com/J1iwv9KEO9
We stand tall. Not our best game. We Triumph still. The youngest team in the tournament held Messi, Aguero and Mascherano to the sword. Head high boys
— idiarenopic.twitter.com/1nh9xJAYcA
(@id49ja) June 26, 2018
And finally, some advice for the Nigeria Football Association from these supporters on how the team should return home and the way forward.
