The Eagles lost 0-2 to the Ivorians courtesy of a first half brace from Kevin Koelly Zougoula but the Nigerians qualified for the biennial football fiesta in South Africa next year on superior 4-3 aggregate score line.
Akpeyi said his side were overwhelmed by the expected Ivorians antics to pay attention to the game at hand which made them to concede two quick goals in the grudge encounter.
“We were overwhelmed by the expected harassment and antics of the Ivorians and it affected our confidence level leading to silly mistakes that caused us the two quick goals though the penalty was clearly undeserved.
“I think the Ivorians took advantage of the momentary confused state of mind to show brilliance and domination in the first half of the game but after the half time pep talk from the coaches we came strongly in the second half and were able to cage them leaving the scoreline at 0-2.
“The Ivorians were not superior only that we allowed the presumed attack from the side's supporters to overwhelm us, it was a mind thing and we almost paid dearly for it but thank God we came back to our senses and fought hard to pick the qualification ticket.
“We’re wiser right now and won’t suffer such psychological break down in our subsequent matches.
“Not all of us are experienced and exposed to the antics of such high-profile game, we have the new players among us who are yet to fully gain confidence but I know with time the team will overcome any deficiencies noted in this game,” said the Heartland goalkeeper to supersport.com.
Akpeyi admitted that Nigerians in the Ivory Coast were excited with the side qualification to the African Nations Championship in South Africa but said the Eagles were sobered by the defeat.
“The atmosphere was electrifying among the Nigerians in the stadium over the Eagles qualification for the Chan but same thing couldn’t be said of the players who felt bad somehow losing the reverse fixture to the Ivorians.“All together everybody was happy that Nigeria’s flag will be hoisted at the Chan event in South Africa for the first time.
“I know for sure that our Chan ticket is a good omen of better things to happen to the side and the side will definitely not disappoint or merely make up the numbers but prove that we’re the reigning African champions,” he said.
The Eagles arrived Lagos on Sunday evening, as the team dispersed to their various homes to reconvene later for the Mandela Challenge contest against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in Durban in August.
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