February, 27 2023.
D'Tigers of Nigeria eventually missed out of the FIBA 2023 Men's World Cup party, even before losing their last Group E qualifier to continental heavyweights, Angola 59-65 on Sunday, in Luanda.
Nigeria's faint chances of qualifying for the World Cup was boosted by two straight victories against Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea; but the victory of Cape Verdé over Côte d'Ivoire earlier on Sunday, effectively ended D'Tigers world cup aspirations.
The fire in a hurriedly assembled team of eleven home-based players and one unattached player from the United States, under the supervision of Coach Ogoh Odaudu, was obviously doused even before taking to the courts to face Angola, but they managed to take the first quarter 13-11; and thereafter played second best for the reminder of the encounter.
The qualification of Cape Verdé makes them the smallest country ever, to punch a ticket to the Men's Basketball World Cup; and they joined the likes of Egypt, South Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire and Angola in qualifying for the upcoming World Cup to be co-hosted by the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
Nigeria's loss to Angola, was definitely an anti climax, as D'Tigers finished fourth on the log. But lessons would have been learnt as the players sourced from the domestic league, gave their best and demonstrated that with more time together and the needed exposure they can achieve a lot for Nigeria.