Nigeria head coach, Eric Chelle, has expressed regret over his team’s elimination from the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, Afrosport reports.
The Super Eagles’ exit was confirmed after they lost their first two Group D games to reigning champions Senegal (1-0) and Sudan (4-0).
Their final game against the Republic of Congo was for pride, and they won the game 2-0 to finish third, behind the Sudanese and the Senegalese, who advanced to the quarter-finals.
Despite having regrets, Chelle was pleased with what he saw from the squad made up mainly of players from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) in their final group game.
“I think we deserved to win this game because we had more possession of the ball, we tried to play,” the Malian tactician said after the game.
“We were just missing the technical skill, or last pass, or last dribble, or choice in the first half. Just before the last technical skill, we missed a lot of balls. We enjoyed this game, but we have lots of regrets.
”I do not think they [the players] played badly. The pressure was so heavy on them, and sometimes they played with some fear. They were scared. Today, we played for honour, and they played well. I don’t think they let me down; if they had done that, we would have lost this game. They did not want to come back to Nigeria without any point. However, they need to improve.”
The Eagles finish strong, but our #CHAN2024 campaign comes to an end. 🦅#SoarSuperEagles pic.twitter.com/GKZ8XN3hHA
— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) August 19, 2025
Chelle will now turn his attention to the crunch 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and South Africa next month.
