Leon Balogun says he will come back stronger while apologising for his howler that gifted Madagascar the first of their two goals against the Super Eagles at the Alexandria Stadium on Sunday, reports Completesports.com.
Balogun, who plays for English Premier League club, Brighton & Hove Albion was at fault for the first goal conceded by the Super Eagles in the game against the Barea.
Balogun made a hash of using dummy body swerve to outwit Lalaina Nomenjanahary, but he gifted the Madagascar forward a golden chance at goal. Lalaina reacted faster to intercept John Ogu’s back pass, then sidestepped Ikechukwu Ezenwa to score the Barea’s first goal.
The former FSV Mainz defender took to the social media to apologise for his blunder and and expressed is determination to bounce back stronger from the setback.
“You can love me or either leave me, but I’m only human & I make mistakes. Try not to hold that against me tho. I accept full responsibility for my actions, so if ya’ll expect me to be perfect, I apologize for being human. No mistake’s too great to recover and bounce back,” Balogun tweeted.
The West Africans won their opening two games against the Swallows of Burundi and Syli Nationale of Guinea before slumping to defeat versus Madagascar.
The defeat cost the Super Eagles top position in the group as they finished in second place with six points, one adrift the Barea.
The Super Eagles may face perennial rivals, the Black Stars of Ghana in a Round of 16 clash on Saturday. The paring will be confirmed later today (Tuesday) after the last two games of Group F would have been played.
Second-placed team in Group F will face the Super Eagles. Ghana and Benin Republic, on two points apiece, are vying for the spot. Guinea-Bissau, on one point, also have a chance of advancing.
The Black Stars will clash with Guinea-Bissau in Suez, while Benin will take on the group leaders Cameroon (on four points) in Ismailia. Both games will kick off at 5pm Nigerian time.
By Adeboye Amosu
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COMMENTS
Apology accepted.
Nigeria will bounce back. It’s only that the road is tougher now. We are facing Egypt in quarterfinal instead of a lesser team if we have topped our group.
Egypt?? how?? thought it’s Ghana. pls confirm bro…
Ghana in Round of 16. If we win in the round of 16 we will meet Egypt in quarterfinal as Egypt will surely win their round of 16.
Very tough route.
Apology accepted but his error might cost him a spot in the starting xi
No worries Balogun. Nobody is above mistake. Whenever you think that you are not making a mistake, that
is your first greatest mistake. Keep your head up and let’s get the job done. God bless Nigeria!!!
Apology accepted but Ogu is the main culprit.
@Leon Balogun and all the SE lads
Dust yourself off that setback and move on
Pay us, your diehard fans by giving us your best “non-nonsense”
Performance!
Remember, we are in the knockout stage now…where a win determines who stays and continue ..and a lost sends a team out and home-bound !!!
@SE
Let’s do it guys
Soar higher!!!
God bless 9ja !!!
Do we have any creative midfielders in this team, how many chances ve they created so far in this tournament?
Oga sunnyb why dont you pick up a pair boot and fill in as the creative midfielder you so desire,talk is cheap common guys lets cut some slacks for these guys,these arguably are the best crop of players Nigeria can present at the moment
Ok, that’s good.