Super Eagles interim head coach, Finidi George, has reacted to his team’s defeat to the Eagles of Mali in an international friendly match played at the Grande Stade de Marrakech, Morocco on Tuesday night.
Finidi praised his players despite the lose in his post-match interview.
The Eric Chelle’s side put up a dominant display to easily dispatch the Super Eagles of Nigeria 2-0.
Goals from El Bilal Toure in the 18th minute and Kamory Doumbia in the 87th minute secured the win.
The result saw Mali registered their first win in 49 years over the AFCON 2024 finalists.
The Super Eagles fought hard in the game but were let down by their poor finishing.
The gaffer refused to blame his players for the defeat.
“I think we made a few mistakes that cost us the match. It wasn’t a bad game, good intensity was exhibited and we created a couple of chances but failed to score. When you make mistakes and fail to score, you get punished but I was happy with the entire play.
“The formation wasn’t bad at all, this is a team that keeps the ball very well. Using two strikers helped us and forced them to play wide. We could have pressed a bit more but overall, we weren’t bad.
“The Malians were aggressive in the first half, we committed the blunder and we conceded. In the second half, we had no choice but to come all out and they sat deep. Even with that approach by the opponents, we still created chances.
“Football is just like that, sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. Overall, we have been able to identify some players that can still be a part of the setup soon.”
“This is a team that keeps the ball very well but if we had our injured strikers available, we would have changed the one on the pitch immediately”, Finidi said.
“Losing two strikers forced us to play wide and as an aggressive team, we did all we could. And you know football is all about victory.
“Lost one and won one and we were not outplayed in the two matches gives me joy as a coach of the Super Eagles.
“I would have loved a different result in this game but that’s not the case if we look at the performance of the players, it’s commendable, the Super Eagles interim coach added.
