CAF AFCON

Nigeria’s goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi reacts after conceding a goal during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Photo: JAVIER SORIANO / AFP

AFCON: Kaizer Chiefs & Orlando Pirates stars crash out as Nigeria lose

Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates will welcome back their stars from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) following Nigeria’s defeat to Tunisia.

CAF AFCON

Nigeria’s goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi reacts after conceding a goal during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Photo: JAVIER SORIANO / AFP

Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates will welcome back their stars from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) following Nigeria‘s defeat to Tunisia.

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The Super Eagles suffered a shock 1-0 loss at the hands of Tunisia in the Last 16 on Sunday night.

And what this means is that both Daniel Akpeyi of Chiefs and Olisa Ndah of Pirates will not play any further part in this year’s AFCON tournament.

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Akpeyi was on the bench the entire tournament for Nigeria while Ndah got some minutes under his belt in the final group match against Guinea Bissau.

On Sunday, Ndah was not among the substitutes as the Nigerian technical team decided to keep him out for unknown reasons.

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NIGERIA’S WINNING RUN COMES TO AN END

Nigeria were strong favourites going into the encounter as they had won all their three group stage games, including beating Egypt.

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However, Tunisia had other ideas on the night, and their game plan was well executed as Nigeria didn’t have a shot on target in the first 45 minutes.

After a very tactical first half which ended in a goalless draw, Tunisia scored the only goal of the game via Youssef Msakni in the 47th minute.

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Nigeria would be reduced to 10 men as substitute Alex Iwobi was dismissed for a dangerous tackle in the 66th minute.

The Super Eagles then started looking threatening in the final third with a number of their attempts coming close to finding the back of the net.

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Ultimately, Nigeria were sent packing by a Tunisian side that made it into the Last 16 as one of the third best placed teams with three points.