The Super Eagles, who placed third at the just concluded AFCON in Egypt, have checked out of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja as they will not be hosted by the government.
Nigeria placed third for the eighth time in their history.
They were received by the Secretary to the Federal Government Boss Mustapha on arrival from Cairo.
“Do you expect a country like Nigeria, who only six years ago won the AFCON in South Africa, to now start celebrating a third-placed finish?” a top official asked.
“That will be going backwards many years after.”
Expectations were high that the Eagles will go all the way to win a fourth AFCON crown in Egypt.
However, they crashed out of the tournament in the semifinals after they lost 2-1 to eventual champions Algeria.
The Eagles are drawn against Benin Republic, Lesotho and Sierra Leone in the qualifying tournament for the 2021 AFCON to be hosted by Cameroon.
