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| Mikel celebrates his goal with teammates |
Uruguay had taken the lead through defender Diego Lugano in the 19th minute before Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel equalised for the Super Eagles with a rare goal on 37 minutes. However, Diego Forlan scored the winner and dashed Nigeria’s hope of getting a point from the match.
Nigerians from across the globe have continued to pour encomiums on the Super Eagles describing the team’s performance as wonderful and above average, even as they expressed worries that lack of superlative strikers will continue to cost Nigeria glories.
A cross section of supporters who spoke to Vanguard through phone calls and online medium were happy that the team is improving everyday and charged coach Stephen Keshi to fortify the squad with competent strikers.
Below are excerpts from some of the commentators in their own words:
Sid: Eagles played well, pressured their opponent but to no avail as they were weak on the attack with poor finishing and for that, the needed goals wouldn’t come. They still have a lot to improve on.
Davidrems: It was a delight watching the Super Eagles live , I must really confessed they were entertaining, I like their smooth passes I think its an improvement over many years of bad coaching. this Eagles are an improved version. however I will suggest to coach Keshi to look into this going forward (a) Nigerians should be educated about set pieces as this is the strength of most teams of Europe and Central America, they have to have special teams as we call it in Ice Hockey or NFL this are designated players who are prepared to defend such situations.
mad nigerian: We lost today, but am proud of the way we played. As I said earlier elsewhere, I did not expect a win. I do expect that Keshi and his backroom staff were taking notes, and making plans to work on any potential weaknesses so that we will be prepared for the upcoming world cup qualifiers (which are far more important than this tournament). Victor Moses,Emma Emmenike…. we really miss you. Get well soon!
Den_Umeh: I have not seen Nigeria play like this for a long time. The boys did very well. Maybe with Moses, Emenike and Kalu, the result would have been different. Possibly, for the first time, Mikel has decided to play for Nigeria – my assessment has nothing to do with his goal; he was in total control of the midfield in the 2 matches so far. Someone close to them should tell them that Spain has not forgotten France 1998 – Nigeria can beat Spain!
Den
Foresight: Overall, Super Eagles played fantastically. Even their official ball possession percentage was higher than that of Uruguay. I think Oduamadi’s unfortunate injury was the reason for our loss. I won’t talk of Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses that we so miss since they were not part of the team due to injury. To be fair to Ahmed Musa, he is a fantastic player. He played well. But as usual, he was selfish. He should have passed that ball and not hold on to it to be seized from him for the winning goal against us.
Celestine Stephens: All the same d Super Eagles superb perfomance is quite applausible. So proud of them even @ defeat cos I can see an improved performance and signs dat d Super Eagles can really play as a team. Welldone boys.
Felix Uzuh: They were great, hope to see more of better stuff, like this from them in the world cup. But I belive if we had victor and emenike in this match, we would have beaten them black & blue.
Olasunkanmi Atanda: EXCELLENTO !! But we need a credible and potent striker fast.
Ogunjobi Oladimeji Michael They played well, but lack good strikers, also we have no player on d bench, they should come back home.
Source: Vanguard
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