There is a subdued anger in the camp of the Super Eagles, with the third place match against Egypt today preventing it from blowing over.
Members of the squad are reportedly dissatisfied with Samuel Chukwueze following his missed penalty against hosts Morocco, with several players expressing visible displeasure over the incident.
The Fulham loanee approached the penalty kicks without emotion as he was seen chewing gum before the infamous kick and his reaction afterwards was said to have infuriated the players, especially the senior ones.
“Any player can miss a penalty, afterall, Bruno missed too. But Chukwueze’s emotions after he missed his kick got some of the senior players pissed off. He was not professional with his behavior,” a source close to the team disclosed.
It was however gathered that Chukwueze wasn’t supposed to play the semifinal match against Morocco because he was nursing a groin injury.
“Nobody really knows why the coach decided to feature him in the match. He wasn’t billed for the game because of a groin injury,” the source added.
However, another source told an online medium that Chukwueze was one of the Super Eagles best penalty kick takers in training, while Victor Osimhen was not so great from the penalty spot.
“The Super Eagles always practised penalties and Chukwueze was one of the their best penalty scorers in training, he was making 10 out of 10 of his penalty kicks,” the source informed.
“Osimhen was not so great with his penalty kicks even though he takes them for his club.
“It was based on this that Chukwueze was brought in for the penalty shootout.”