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Nigeria’s president awarded the national football team honours, plots of land and flats on Tuesday for reaching the final of the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Super Eagles lost 2-1 to hosts Ivory Coast in Abidjan on Sunday, but President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said he was proud of the side’s resilience.
Each player in the national squad received the Member of the Order of the Niger, one of the country’s highest honours, as well as a flat and a piece of land in the region around the capital.
Tinubu welcomed the returning team at the presidential villa in Abuja, saying he was proud of the side — even if it was tough to stomach the defeat.
“Let this passing event not dispirit us but bring us together to work harder,” he said.
“To those cherished Nigerian youths expressing their gifts in communities, drawing lines in the sand as they play football in their humble rectangles of play, you can be our heroes tomorrow, do not relent in your pursuit.
“My administration is here to make dreams come true,” he said.
