The U-23 Eagles coach Austin Eguavoen is still very hopeful that his team would bounce back from the 1-0 defeat in the hands of hosts Morocco to make the semi-finals of the ongoing London Olympics qualifying tournament holding in Morocco.
The Moroccans defeated their Nigerian opponents via a 27th minute penalty by Barrada Abdelaziz after Emmanuel Anyanwu was judged to have improperly tackled Morocco’s Bidaoui Soufiane in the box.
Eguavoen who spoke after the match in Tangiers late Saturday said, “We knew from the onset that it was going to be a difficult game against the host nation. We were unlucky but that’s the way it usually turns out with football. All we have to do now is put this game behind us and begin to prepare for the ones ahead.
“I have to start working on the psychology of my players; to put them in the right frame of mind for the game against Senegal. But for sure I am very confident that we will pick a ticket for the Olympics.”
Nigeria’s next match is on Tuesday against Senegal. The Nigerians must win the encounter to remain in the run for a semi-final berth. Algeria are joint leaders with Morocco in Group A after they piped Senegal 1-0 in a late game also played on Saturday. Morocco and Algeria each have three points, while Nigeria and Senegal are yet to record any points.
Algeria’s match winner inside the Ibn Batuta Stadium in Tangiers was netted by Mehdi Benaldjia in the 77th minute. On Tuesday, the North African rivals – Morocco and Algeria – will slug it out at the same venue in the first game of the day, while it will be an all-West African clash between Nigeria and Senegal from 9.30pm Nigerian time.