\n<\/p>\n
Nigeria missed out on Qatar 2022 and their bid to return to the finals has seen numerous twists and turns over the course of a two-year campaign, including two changes of manager.<\/p>\n
The Super Eagles only qualified for the African play-offs on goal difference after a 91st-minute strike in their final group game against Benin, and players and technical staff boycotted training on Tuesday over unpaid allowances and match bonuses.<\/p>\n
Yet the side showed no ill effects from that dispute as they took the game to Gabon in persistent rain in the Moroccan capital.<\/p>\n
Adams was denied early on and Osimhen headed wide from nine yards before Gabon goalkeeper Loyce Mbaba made two brilliant reflex saves.<\/p>\n
The Panthers looked to play on the counter-attack, but one major flashpoint came early in the second half when they claimed a penalty for a shirt pull by Bright Osayi-Samuel on Aaron Appindangoye.<\/p>\n
Yet, after referee Abongile Tom spent over three minutes studying his pitch-side monitor and in conversation with Video Assistant Referee Akhona Makalima, the appeals were turned down.<\/p>\n
Denis Bouanga and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had scored 15 goals between them for Gabon during the group stage but rarely had a sight at goal as 20-year-old Benjamin Fredrick impressed at the heart of the Nigeria defence.<\/p>\n
The result extends Chelle’s unbeaten start since he became the first non-Nigerian African to take charge of the Super Eagles in January.<\/p>\n
The Malian, who has revived a faltering qualification campaign, is now one game closer to leading the three-time continental champions to the expanded 48-team World Cup, and winning over those who questioned his appointment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Nigeria missed out on Qatar 2022 and their bid to return to the finals has seen numerous twists and turns over the course of a two-year campaign, including two changes of manager. The Super Eagles only qualified for the African play-offs on goal difference after a 91st-minute strike in their final group game against Benin,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}