First vice-president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has pleaded with Nigerian football fans, to forgive the U-20 side, after they were eliminated from the 2017 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations by Sudan.

The Flying Eagles won the first leg 2-1 in Omdurman, but were beaten 4-3 in Lagos, losing out on away goals rule.

This means Emmanuel Amuneke’s team, will also not be at next year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea.


“We want to let the players know that sometimes you learn from adversity. I emplore Nigerians to please forgive and understand that it’s a work in progress, they will become champions of the world. Everybody has seen them play. What happened was just a freak,” Akinwunmi said.