Nigerian fans, disappointed at the Super Eagles' one-nil loss to Cote d'Ivoire Tuesday in the semi-final of the 25th African Nations Cup in Egypt, blamed the defeat on the coaching crew for its "poor selection" against the Ivorians.

"Coach (Augustine) Eguavoen lost the match right from the onset," said a fan who identified himself simply as Doyin, during a live phone-in radio show after the match.

"You don't change a winning team... He (coach) should have used the team that won against Tunisia in the quarter final," he said.

Echoing the sentiment, another caller, Victor, said Eguavoen should not have started star striker Nwankwo Kanu, who has come off the bench in the past matches during the competition.

"Kanu has been our joker, and we should have kept things that way," he said.

Speaking in the same vein, Jeffrey, who described himself as an "ardent" fan of the team, said the inclusion of Seidu Kaita weakened the team.

Many of the callers praised Cote d'Ivoire for playing with determination, while saying - perhaps as an indication of their anger - that Nigeria only managed to reach the semi-final through "sheer luck".

The call-in show anchor perhaps summarised the general feeling in Nigeria when he said: "The Super Eagles have lost today, painfully, but then we have to take it as it is!"

Though the match started at 2 p.m. local time, Nigerians from all walks of life put whatever they were doing on hold to watch the encounter on television.

In Lagos, the usually busy roads were deserted while the match lasted.