It was never in the offing that Congo would come to Nigeria and beat the Super Eagles,at best nobody saw it coming,because the last time they even defeated the Nigerians was in 1970.
But Nigerians were treated to that unsavoury taste when the Congolese stunned everyone to record a hugely impressive win in Calabar.
The general belief was that Nigeria would always find their way to navigate through any turbulence if the sea at any time becomes stormy,however "the Super Eagles were asleep in the boat and it ended up engulfing them."
Some many talking points can be drawn up as to why Nigeria lost,but the truth is that a lot of factors helped facilitate the loss to Congo.
Was the loss in anyway avoidable?of course it was,if Nigeria had plugged all the holes and not made a rod for their own back.
So here,we try to examine three reasons why the Super Eagles were beaten.
Super Eagles not so Super:
A draw then it could have been termed as a blip,but a loss portrayed the Super Eagles as what they truly are: "just average"
Congo showed how good they were with the execution of all three goals they scored against Nigeria.
The dozy Eagles defence made the task easier for Congo with their very poor defending on each of the goals.
Not a single player in the starting line-up(especially the back four) justified their selection to have started,with their dismal showing in the first 45 minutes of the game.
The players didn't inspire belief that they would lift the souls of people with a spirited comeback.
And the hard truth is that if they turn up against South Africa like they did against Congo,then they should best forget the 2015 Nations Cup.
Keshi takes some share of the blame too:
Congo's coach Claude Leroy showed that he has an immense understanding of the Africa terrain,with the win over Nigeria.
Leroy drilled his team and prepared them very well for this contest,which showed in his team's organisation against Nigeria.
Keshi might be having issues with regards to his contract problems and the uncertainty whether he is still coach of the Super Eagles,the truth is that he was tactically second best to Leroy.
Although reports emerged that Emmanuel Emenike was benched for arriving late to camp,the question is: why did Keshi later bring him on in the second half when the chips were down?
If he was being punished for arriving late to camp,why didn't he see out the game on the sidelines?
If he was going to later make an appearance at all in the game,then he is as good as having started the match.
Keshi had a calm demeanour throughout the match,maybe his long drawn battles with the NFF has gotten to him as he didn't look his usual self.
Football administrators culpable:
Many people are trying not to connect the board problems to the Super Eagles' travails against Congo.
But the truth is that they are not far from each other,in fact they are interwoven together.
There has been a leadership tussle with factions all laying claims to the soul of Nigerian football.
Flirting with a FIFA ban since July,it has been from one controversy to the other for the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF).
Their fights somehow,rubbed off on the team. While there should have been total concentration on preparing the Super Eagles,the NFF are busy fighting themselves.
In fact there are so many factions of the NFF now which could have confused the team,and they might not even know who they are answerable to.
It is equally their shortsightedness that led to them not resolving Keshi's contract issue for a long time,allowing it drag on,blabbing about hiring an interim manager in his stead.
Maybe they could end up destroying the Super Eagles if the crisis is not resolved by Monday and FIFA's hammer falls on Nigeria.
Not only will the game against South Africa not played on Wednesday,the 2015 African Nations Cup qualification will be waved goodbye,maybe then the scales will then fall off.
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