Changchun Yatai of China striker, Odion Jude Ighalo has received scathing words from former Chelsea star, Didier Drogba for failing to score crucial chances at the World Cup.
Ighalo capped a chain of shoddy performances for the Eagles with two gilt-edged misses in the crucial match against Argentina Tuesday night in Saint–Petersburg, and Drogba says those misses ultimately accounted for Nigeria’s ouster from the competition.
Though the Cote d’Ivoire legend also blamed the match official’s refusal to abide with Video Assistant Referee (VAR) evidence for Nigeria’s lost, he stressed that Ighalo had larger part of the blame to bear.
Drogba, though, also opined that Nigeria showed their true identity despite losing 1-2 to Argentina, courtesy of a late goal from Marcos Rojo after Victor Moses cancelled out Lionel Messi’s opener.
However, the Ivorian star stressed that Ighalo should have buried at least one of the slim chances he got to put Nigeria in a comfortable position before the late goal by Argentina.
He also faulted the decision of the ref not to award a penalty to Nigeria for a handball by Rojo in the box, despite using the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) giving him a second view of the incident, which would have given the Eagles a chance to go 2-1 up from the spot.
”I think it’s a bad decision from the referee [to not give Nigeria a second penalty]. It’s the defender’s mistake – he didn’t read the ball well. It’s difficult to give the penalty because it would take Argentina out of the competition.
“They will have some regrets about the first game the y played against Croatia but against Iceland and we saw the real Nigeria.
”Nigeria gave everything. But I’m disappointed because they did have the chances to score and kill the game through Ighalo,” Drogba said.
In an apparent reaction, Ighalo accepted responsibility for the loss Nigeria suffered at the hands of Argentina on Tuesday during their last group match at the 2018 World Cup.
Ighalo said: “I take responsibility for this game because if I had taken those chances I had, that would have made it a different ball game now.
“I missed a couple of chances that would have finished the game but that’s football because sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.”
