{"id":77287,"date":"2022-12-01T14:45:24","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T13:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians"},"modified":"2022-12-01T15:56:13","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T14:56:13","slug":"world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians","title":{"rendered":"World Cup: This could\u2019ve been Nigeria\u2019s tournament \u2013 Pinnick apologizes to Nigerians"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has apologized to Nigerians over Super Eagles\u2019 failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.<\/p>\n

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is ongoing, with some teams already through to the Round of 16 stages.<\/p>\n

Recall that the Super Eagles failed to qualify for Qatar 2022 for the first time since 2006 after playing a 1-1 draw with arch-rivals Ghana in Abuja a few months ago.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Arise TV on Thursday, Pinnick, who is currently in Qatar, insisted that this year\u2019s World Cup could have been Nigeria\u2019s tournament, adding that he took responsibility for Super Eagles\u2019 failure not to be at the global football festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis [Qatar 2022] could have been Nigeria\u2019s World Cup. Osimhen would have been like what Maradona was in 1986 in that World Cup,\u201d Pinnick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I told the African teams [like Senegal and Morocco], we want an African team to win it [ the World Cup], but if you people don\u2019t, Nigeria will be the first to win it, maybe in the next World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they are playing on the field, I take them as Nigerian. And again, I will apologize to Nigerians and I take responsibility as the then President of the Federation, but I believe we have gone beyond that now.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cLet us enjoy the World Cup. Qatar has given us a wonderful spectacle to behold, and I believe we should enjoy it. I am a proud Nigerian and am happy to be here to represent the country with dignity at any time.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Former President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has apologized to Nigerians over Super Eagles\u2019 failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The 2022 FIFA World Cup is ongoing, with some teams already through to the Round of 16 stages. Recall that the Super Eagles failed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":77286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[1570,2140,254,3257,123],"class_list":["post-77287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-nigeria-2","tag-nigeria","tag-pinnick","tag-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\nWorld Cup: This could\u2019ve been Nigeria\u2019s tournament \u2013 Pinnick apologizes to Nigerians - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has apologized to Nigerians over Super Eagles\u2019 failu ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World Cup: This could\u2019ve been Nigeria\u2019s tournament \u2013 Pinnick apologizes to Nigerians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has apologized to Nigerians over Super Eagles\u2019 failu ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-01T13:45:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-01T14:56:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1669893869.98.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"World Cup: This could\u2019ve been Nigeria\u2019s tournament \u2013 Pinnick apologizes to Nigerians\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-01T13:45:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-01T14:56:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians\"},\"wordCount\":286,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1669893869.98.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Nigeria\",\"Nigeria\",\"pinnick\",\"World Cup\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/world-cup-this-couldve-been-nigerias-tournament-pinnick-apologizes-to-nigerians\",\"name\":\"World Cup: This could\u2019ve been Nigeria\u2019s tournament \u2013 Pinnick apologizes to Nigerians - 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