Alex Iwobi stole the show in a rather unprecedented moment after he saw a red card moments after coming in as a substitute against Tunisia on Sunday, January 23rd.
The Super Eagles were 1-0 down at the time after a long-range effort from Youssef Msakni caught out goalkeeper Maduka Okoye to give Tunisia the lead.
As one of the favourites for the tournament - since current holders Algeria were knocked out at the group stage, Nigeria were largely expected to advance to the quarter-finals with relative ease.
However after finding themselves a goal behind, things soon got worse as Iwobi made their challenge even harder following his dismissal.
The Everton midfielder came on as a replacement for Kelechi Iheanacho as Nigeria went in search of an equaliser, but after just over five minutes on the pitch, was penalised for a late challenge.
Initially, the referee opted to hand out a yellow card, however, replays showed that the 25-year-old's tackle on Youssef Msakni to be a rash challenge.
Leaving his mark on the Tunisia captain with his studs, VAR then took a look at the tackle to see if the challenge warranted a red card.
Following a short look, it was deemed that Iwobi's tackle deserved a straight red, leaving referee Maguette N'Diaye with no option but to give him his marching orders.
Despite the one-man disadvantage, Nigeria pushed forward in hopes of getting an equaliser, but were unable to break down the resilient Tunisian defence who advanced through to the last eight in Cameroon, where they will face Burkina Faso.
The North Africans now advance to the competition’s quarter-finals where they will take on the Stallions of Burkina Faso on the same Stade Roumde Adjia pitch in Garoua.
Eguavoen, while speaking at the post-match press conference, blamed bad officiating for his team’s ouster from the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon.
He added that his players fought a good fight.
“We tried to come back after the Tunisia goal, and we chased the game. But then we got a red card. It was clear that the officiating wasn’t fair,” the coach said. He however disclosed that he had told the players to quickly put the loss behind them and face the job at hand in March.
”I have told the players to pick up and ensure they qualify Nigeria for the World Cup,” Eguavoen said. He however pointed out that it was always very difficult when you play against a tactical side like Tunisia, especially when the officiating was not fair.
“I won’t criticise the referee because they are masters of the game, but Alex Iwobi’s red card wasn’t fair. The foul wasn’t an intentional one,” the coach added.
The Super Eagles will now look forward to the 2022 FIFA World Cup African Zone playoffs in March against Ghana.