Former Nigeria international Emmanuel Amuneke has urged the country's junior men's teams to put the disappointment of not playing in next year's CAF Africa Cup of Nations tournaments behind them, Completesportsnigeria.com reports. Amuneke was in charge of the Flying Eagles team that got knocked out by Sudan  in the qualifiers for Zambia U-20 AFCON. In the race for the U-17 AFCON in Madagascar, the Golden Eaglets were eliminated by Niger Republic in the qualifiers.

Reflecting on the ouster of both teams, Amuneke advised that the players must use the disappointment as a learning stage in their football careers. "We just have to appreciate every moment of our life. Sometimes we just have to welcome the opposite side of life," Amuneke told Completesportsnigeria.com.

"Unfortunately, next year we will not be participating in the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations. Also in the U-17 Cup of Nations, we will not be there. But we have to learn from it. "You can never always be at the top. When you find yourselves in difficulties you must always learn to live with it, which makes one grow."