Nigeria goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi has reacted to Kaizer Chiefs’s CAF Champions League final loss to Al Ahly, following criticism over his performance in the game, reports Completesports.com.
The Amakhosi were thrashed 3-0 by the Egyptians at the Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca on Saturday.
Akpeyi had a flawless campaign in the competition prior to final as he didn’t concede a goal in six previous outings.
Read Also: Akpeyi, Ajayi In Action As Al Ahly Thrash Kaizers Chiefs, Clinch Record-Extending 10th C/L Title
The shot stopper however conceded thrice in the second half against the North Africans and has been widely criticised by some of the club’s supporters.
He took to the social media to thank his supporters who stood by him in the face of adversity.
“Every champion has once lost a fight (sadly so) but they’ve never lost their dream no matter the opinion about them, nature does conform to them at the right time,” Akpeyi wrote on Instagram.
“To everyone who has been standing with them through thick and thin, I salute your courage, when the limits are broken, all the joy that is assumed to be lost you will receive them in one package I’m grateful to have come this far.”
By Adeboye Amosu
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COMMENTS
Unfortunately, some of your country men also joined in the criticism. It’s too bad. Thank God some of us watched the match. We saw how sharp you were in the first half. There was nothing you could have done to save the day. Happy Mashiane reduced your chance of lifting the trophy. Well done,Dan. Try to impress Stuart Baxter. He is a British. Iam sure he will not dance to the tune of the South Africans. If you are worthy of being the first choice goalie there, he will use you. Best of luck!
Gwerere Gwerere Gwerere. Akpeyi no be shaku shaku goalkeeper.
Isnt it rather funny that anytime a foreign coach is in charge at Kaizer Chiefs, they prefer Akpeyi as 1st choice…? But once the local coaches have their turn, they switch to their ‘homeboys’.
Africans and tribal/nepotistic sentiments.
So… Can’t you now see why Pitso Mosimane may not think twice to relegate someone like Ajayi, a Nigerian who before his arrival was a first team regular in preference for some other local Egyptian boy… Who may not really be better than him? Pitso is playing to the gallery just same way he was trying to poach Kaizer Chief players… ones he prefers… South Africans flatly hate
Nigerians… I have met one here in Germany
who told me to my face knowing I am a Nigerian
that your country men are all drug dealers…
I mean an educated guy fa!
Hahahahaha….Mr you are talking complete opposites to what im saying….LMAOOOo, just because you want to make excuses for your beloved son in whom you are well pleased…LMAO. Pitso is a foreign coach in Egypt, he doesnt have any attachment to any local player, he isn’t fielding or benching a foreigner just for the sake of it. He is playing his BEST men. I bet you dont even watch Al-ahly’s games to start with. Ajayi doesn’t come anywhere near any of Afsha the playmaker, Soliman and kahraba the wingers or Bwalya and Sharrif the 1st choice strikers. Drop this your crap hype and sentiments….lolz…no coach will have a player who is “better than iheanacho, dessers and onuachu” combined and put him on the bench for no reason. The same coach that put Ajayi on the bench starts another foreigner Bwalya from DRC and Benoun from Morocco regularly. Even Dieng a Malian is a regular under the same Coach. Your Ajayi has been featuring regularly for Ahahly all these years and they never won the CAF CL….Pitso comes in, shakes things up….starts playing players based on productivity and has won the CAF CL back to back within 2 years…..pls cry us a river and look for better excuses for your boy. You appear to be far too lettered to be cooking up vague excuses you cant substantiate. You are better than that.
The players Pitso even wanted to sign weren’t all south africans. Kama Billiat is a Zimbabwean, Peter Shalulile is a Namibian, Gaston Sirino is a Uruguayan….Only Thmba Zwane is a south African and his club was not willing to sell and ultimately gave is a bumper 5-year contract which ultimately killed off the interest….and its normal for coaches to want to sign 1 or 2 players from their former clubs, especially when they are better than those on ground. So give us better excuses than the racial and nationality card you are always quick to pull. Yes South Africans hate Nigerians, its a fact….thanks to nefarious Nigerians who constitute nuisance in every part of the world they find themselves. Our green passport is a curse to every traveler rather than a blessing…so its not only in south Africa Nigerians are profiled….yet you still see Nigerians who are performing well being rewarded for their output. Ajayi’s nationality is not the reason why your client is on the bench….LMAOOo…not even close to it. This is not 2017…..your customer is in steep decline and not the same player of 4 years ago. He doesnt even feature in the top 10 forwards Nigeria has globally at the moment…..he is no JJ nor is he a Kanu, a Mikel or a Moses. He is no messaih you are trying fruitlessly to paint him to be. There are better players we should be advocating for ahead of him. A gold fish has no hiding place, The likes of Sharif and Afsha are already attracting interests from European clubs already. Alhaly even turned down a deal from turkey recently in order to hold out for a bigger offer after the CAF CL final and both players still didnt disappoint. Your beloved son has been stuck in north Africa till like forever averaging 5 league goals per season and is suddenly the best Nigerian footballer out there in your own estimation….kudos to you….you are doing a damn good job. Look for something else to blame for his woes. I heard Al-masry and Wadi Degla are chasing after him now…..Lolz. He should better take their offers and go play 1st team football rather than rotting on the bench of Ahly at the age of 25….LMAooo…dont forget his contract runs out this season….so you need to intensify efforts on the PR job you are trying to do for him.
Al Ahly did not win CAF Champions between 2016 and 2019,it becomes a single player’s fault. Well… A player cannot play himself… it’s the coach to decide that. His fortune has only changed since his return from a nasty ankle injury in match… Even Lionel Messi will not have the stats of Bojan Krcic if his coach relegates him to the bench and to only fringe roles… be you Batistuta, Cannigia or even Paolo Rossi. When Mesut Ozil was relegated to bench, what was his stats? Yet we know the guy is quality… Oboy… Junior Ajayi is a giant of the Nigeria game anyday. He remains the most successful Nigerian to ever play on the continent…
Hehehehehe….what was his stats even before injury….LMAOOo…average of 5 league goals per season…? That’s the player who is better than iheanacho, dessers and onuachu combined. Sharif hit 14 league goals alone this season. A further 6 goals and 3 assists in the CAF CL. Afsha the team’s playmaker as a combined tallied 6 goals and 10 assists in both competitions this season….either as a forward or as an attacking midfielder as you once claim Ajayi is, when in his entire Ahly career has he tallied such numbers in the course of a season…even when he was fit and hearty…Yet according to you he is being benched because he is Nigerian….LMAO….if he were to be in europe your narrative would have been he’s been benched because he is black (even when other blacks in the team are playing regularly…Lol).
Oga stats dont lie. John Utaka was hitting 20 goals plus in this same Egypt when he played there……LMAOooo…the only season he played in Qatari league he hit 14. Those are the kinds of numbers that attract national team callups and European scouts. Yes its not Ajayi’s fault that Ahly couldnt win CAFCL all these while, Its not the coach’s fault too that he came in and shook things up and started featuring the right players with better output and has won the same competition now back to back within 2 years. Sharrif is about moving to Europe after just 2 seasons at Alhaly, Your most successful Nigerian player on the continent has is warming bench at the age of 25 in the last 2 seasons of his contract….LMAO. If junior Ajayi is the most successful Nigerian player ever on the continent, pls what should we call the likes of Mohamed Yusuf, Late Endurance Idahor, John Zaki, Williams Okpara, Emmanuel Amuneke and/or Vincent Enyeama…??! People who are still regarded as legends in their clubs till today….Lol. Weldone to you so-called giant of Nigerian football with average of 5 league goals per season playing in Egyptian League….he do well. He wouldnt even rank amongst top 3 Nigerians of all times to have featured in the Egyptian Premier League. Keep up your good PR job….at least you should be able to end up with a few people you can deceive. Pls look for better excuses apart from his nationality for his wakapass squad member status in AlAhly
So Akpeyi made them concede three goals. But was it Akpeyi that prevented his team from scoring at the other end also?
Alhaly was just too good for Kaizer Chiefs. It wasn’t the fault of a singke player that they lost. Period.
Is it also a coincidence that the only time chiefs challenged for and almost won the league title in a long while was when Akpeyi was 1st choice…? Is it also a mere happenstance that the only time KC reached the final CAF CL was with Akpeyi as first choice in continental games, while the team finished the league in 8th position with homeboys as first choice…?
Once again, Africans and tribal/nepotistic sentiments.
don’t worry man