Nigerian football fans have called for the immediate sack of Coach Godwin Izilien following the failure of Nigeria to qualify for the FIFA World Under-17 Championship in Peru.

The Golden Eaglets were edged out of the championship after failing to qualify for the semi-finals of the African Under-17 Championship in the Gambia.

The four semi-finalists, Cote d'Ivoire, South Africa, the Gambia and Ghana, will represent Africa in Peru later in the year.

The fans said Izilien should keep to his promise to resign if his team failed or be sacked by the Nigerian Football Association (NFA) if he refuses to do so.

Niyi Alebiosu, a sports journalist of Nigerian Tribune, said the entire coaching crew should be sacked. "That is the practice everywhere in the world. Once you have failed to perform you go, no excuses," he explained.

"The man has even said that he accepts full responsibility for the team's performance. What I expect from him is to tender his letter of resignation as soon as he returns (home) with the team," Alebiosu said.

He also urged the NFA to give younger coaches the opportunity to manage the national teams. "NFA should stop this idea of recycling coaches. There are a lot of young coaches in the country who can do well, not those with any fresh idea about coaching and management of players," he said.

Bukola Fadola, a banker, said the players paraded by Izilien lacked technical depth. "This is very sad; this is an area where Nigeria has advantage. Youth football has always been our stronghold. We couldn't even advance to the second stage of the championship."

He said the team he had seen "did not have any character, full of flat footed players."

Dare Esan, editor of "Complete Sports" newspaper, said Izilien should resign according to his pledge, "but if he fails to do so honorably, the NFA should fire him."

He said Izilien's Under-17 was a team without any outstanding player and it never played like a team.

"Indeed, you couldn't really see the effect of any serious coaching on the team's pattern of play," he said.

Esan also said Izilien was too old to handle a youth team. "In football, particularly at the Under-17 level, you need a young man who has to be dynamic to be able to keep abreast with emerging trends in the sport. These are obviously lacking in Izilien."