Ivorian star defender Emmanuel Eboue has swiftly moved to make peace with Nigerians by apologising for his pre-match tirade against Africa’s most populous country.

Eboue had in the countdown to yesterday’s epic quarter-final clash between Ivory Coast and Nigeria in the ongoing 29th Africa Cup of Nations launched a Twitter rant in which he dismissed Nigeria’s Super Eagles as “Super Chicken” and boasted that the Elephants (the Ivorian national team) would eat them up like chicken. He also went beyond football to abuse Nigeria as a virtually failed state.

As it turned out, Nigeria outplayed and beat the star-studded Ivorians 2-1 at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa, to set up a semi-final clash with Mali and send home the pre-tournament favourites.

On checking out Eboue’s Twitter handle this morning, News Express found that the big defender has eaten the humble pie.  

“I apologies to all Nigerians that might find my tweets offensive or sensitive. It's meant to be jokes and funny. I am sorry,” Eboue tweeted from King Emmanuel Eboue ‏@TheRealEbouee.

In a preceding tweet, he said: “Congratulations to Nigeria. We failed to stamp on you so you poked the eyes of our elephant. Fair play. It was a tough game for us. Congrat.”

In yet another tweet, the Galatasaray of Turkey right back said: “Peace and love to Africa. I hope Nigeria wins the #NationsCup.Amen.”

Reacting to Eboue’s apology, some Nigerians tweeted back to convey their acceptance and to acknowledge his spirit of sportsmanship.

But a new twist was introduced to the saga as Eboue denied being the man who made the offending rant against Nigeria, saying somebody was faking him on Twitter. According to him: "People have called to ask me about something they read on Twitter. Please, that's not me."

•Photo:Eboue.