Former Super Eagles international Etim Esin was disappointed with the team’s overall display, following their 1-1 draw against South Africa on Tuesday.
Both teams canceled each other out in the match which took place at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, with neither side able to get the winner.
Nigeria needed a win to close the gap to South Africa, who had opened a six-point gap at the top of Group C.
However, their qualifying hopes were dashed as they were unable to defeat the hosts, leaving them with the prospects of missing out on a second consecutive World Cup tournament.
William Troost-Ekong, who was restored to the starting lineup after beginning on the bench in last Saturday’s clash against Rwanda, put the ball into the back of his own net in the first half hour to give Bafana Bafana the lead.
Calvin Bassey netted a controversial equalizer for Nigeria on the stroke of halftime, with his header from a Dele-Bashiru’s cross going into the post via a deflection from his hand.
The three-time African champions create several other goalscoring chances but were wasteful in front of goal, with the match ending in a 1-1 result.
South Africa currently top Group C with 17 points, while Benin Republic who thrashed Lesotho later 4-0 later in the day, in second position with 14 points.
The Super Eagles are third on 11 points, same as fourth-placed Rwanda, with only two matches to play.
With only the group winners assured of an automatic slot, Nigeria must win their remaining matches and hope for favorable results across other group games to stand a chance of qualifying.
What Etim Esim said about Nigerian players
“We have average players in the Super Eagles, the team lacks creativity, we have players who cannot confidently take on a player and beat the player one-on-one, nobody can make anything happen”, the former Nigerian player stated.
“It is a sad day for Nigerian football, it is unimaginable that we will miss another World Cup, it’s terrible.”
