Star striker Victor Osimhen told ESPN that he immediately said sorry to his Super Eagles teammates after a shocking, for him, miss against Gabon in FIFA World Cupo qualifying on Thursday in Morocco.
Osimhen scored twice in extra time on Thursday as the Super Eagles beat Gabon 4-1 to book their place in the final of the CAF World Cup playoffs in Morocco.
But the Galatasaray striker could have wrapped the game up for the Super Eagles in regulation time, but missed what looked an easy chance deep into the 12-minute stoppage time, skewing it with only the keeper to beat.
The forward says he immediately apologized to his teammates and promised to make amends: "I was gutted but as a person and as a striker I had to keep it moving. It was bad.
"I apologized immediately to my teammates because I saw that immediately I missed the opportunity the referee said we were going into extra time. I told my teammates that I was sorry and I would correct it in extra time.
"If I let it get into my head, I don't think I would be able to grab those two goals. That was important because as a striker you score the one people believe you cannot score and then you miss the ones people think you can score. Which is normal, I am human so I make mistakes."
Captain William Troost-Ekong says the team rallied around the striker immediately afterwards: "When I saw him running at the goalkeeper, I was sure he was going to score.
"But after that, we tried to encourage him. We wanted to make sure that he wasn't disheartened and then he stole the show again, that's the kind of player he is.
"He has so much resilience, that's how he plays, he keeps fighting. And I am very happy that he crowned his effort, for the whole team because today was a unifying performance for what has been a difficult couple of days and puts us in good stead for what's to come on Sunday."
It was the second game in a row that the seemingly rejuvenated Super Eagles have posted a four-goal performance, following their 4-0 win over Benin last month.
And in truth, it could have been more against the Panthers, as the Nigerians squandered a litany of chances in a first half where they were completely dominant.
But they rallied late in the second half, and then in extra time to put things to bed and Osimhen says the team cannot miss a second consecutive tournament, as they prepare for the Final against the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday.
"We can get it done," Osimhen told ESPN. "We have the squad to actualize this dream of going to the World Cup because everyone wants to go to the World Cup.
"We have to be at the World Cup because we missed out on the last one and I think we have the quality to do it."
The Super Eagles cannot afford to dwell on this win, according to forward Samuel Chukwueze: "We are feeling good. We can celebrate a little bit because we have a game in a couple of days, the most important one on Sunday. So we have to focus on that."
Nigeria had to rise above self-inflicted adversity to triumph against the Panthers, after players boycotted training to demand payment of their outstanding bonuses and allowances.
There were some concerns that the players would be distracted by the incident, but Osimhen said that was not the case: "For everything that has happened, all the players were locked in, whether we trained or we did not train.
"Because even when we were at our club sides, we speak with ourselves all the time. We have a group that we speak with each other try to motivate ourselves."