Nigeria Football Federation, the NFF, has made public what former interim Super Eagles coach Augustine Eguavoen told the players following that shock exit from the AFCON2021.
The Super Eagle's Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) elimination in the last-16 to Tunisia was a deep disappointment for many fans.
Augustine Eguavoen’s side had taken the maximum possible nine points and averaged two goals per match in the group stage.
But the 1-0 loss for 10-man Nigeria marked the team’s first failure to reach the AFCON last eight since 1984.
Interim boss, who has since stepped down and resumed his position as NFF's Technical Director, spoke to the players in his final team talk as the coach thereafter and urged them to put behind the disappointment in Cameroon behind them as quickly as possible and move on.
"It's a bitter pill to swallow, no doubt about it," Eguavoen told the players before they left Cameroon for Nigeria.
"But human being proposes and God disposes. I just want to show appreciation to you guys and the backroom staff. What we have been hearing about you guys before now turned out to be wrong.
I will say congratulations for your performance but we were striving for something but couldn't get it."
"You will hear positive and negative things, it's normal in life. Nigerians love the game, don't forget that and that's what brings smiles to their faces. A lot was expected and we couldn't meet that.
"But continue to believe in yourself because you still have a lot of jobs to do for yourselves and the nation. The World Cup qualifier is close by and the quicker we take this off our minds, the better for everybody."
The 56-year-old, who stepped down as the interim coach of the Nigeria national team after Tunisia defeat also took the responsibility by taking some of the blame over team selection and also questioning some of the refereeing decisions.
