Angola head coach, Pedro Goncalves was full of praises for the Super Eagles despite his side’s defeat to the three-time African champions.
The Palancas Negras of Angola fell to a 1-0 defeat against the Super Eagles in their quarter-final clash at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan on Friday night.
Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman was the hero for the Super Eagles, netting the winning goal for Jose Peseiro’s side four minutes before the break after he was superbly set up by Man of the Match Moses Simon.
Angola were outplayed by the Super Eagles, who could have scored more goals but for their poor marksmanship.
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Goncalves, who was magnanimous in defeat said the Super Eagles were more efficient than his side.
“I would like to congratulate the Nigerian team .They have a very strong team. Today we lost and Nigeria deserves the win. It was a demanding game. This is our fifth match since the beginning of this tournament,” Goncalves said during his interaction with the media.
“Nigeria’s goal came at a period when we had a player injured giving out opponents the chance to score. We tried to make a substitution with a complimentary player. The player that came in ought to create more goal scoring chances.
“We tried what we could and went seeking goals but were just not lucky. The Nigerian team defended very well. We had chances to score but the Nigerian team were very strong. When you play against a team like Nigeria, you have to face reality.”
By Adeboye Amosu in Abidjan
2 Comments
Well said mr.coach, you now know say Oga na master when it comes to Nigeria team.
I’m even happy that you say the truth.
God bless Nigeria.
Well done guys.
The Angola coach really tried but was lucky his team did not concede more than one goal.