Despite recording another draw and failing to score
against El Tri, the former head coach of the Nigeria team is satisfied
with the progress made
Former Nigeria
coach Austin Egueavon has described as impressive the overall
performance of the Super Eagles against Mexico in Thursday's
international friendly.The Super Eagles, in the same city they won gold at the 1996 Olympics, played out a goalless draw with El Tri in front of a record crowd of 68,220 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Eguavoen, in his post match response, praised Stephen Keshi on the introduction of fresh players into the team creating more competition and backed the squad to succeed at this year’s World Cup in Brazil.
“It was a high tempo game – they showed in the game that they could cope with pace and speed of teams at the World Cup. The style was a bit difficult but they adjusted well. They tried to hold the ball, dominate possessions and create chances. Their performance on the overall brings many positives as they performed above average though there is room for better improvement," Eguavoen said on AIT.
“They held the Mexicans out for most period of the game and could have converted one of their several chances. They did so well, showed plenty of promises and did impress many Nigerians in the preparation for the World Cup. Good composure in the defence with Leon impressive in the encounter within his brief stay on the pitch.”
The former Nigerian international expressed disappointment in the failure of the Super Eagles attackers to convert their chances and further blamed it on disconnect with the midfield as the key problem.
“I expected Emmanuel Emenike to have scored today if he was a box player but the problem was with the midfielders being choked and their failure to dominate in the area didn’t allow him get the needed backup. Emenike was playing deep and had little support from the midfield line - with Ogenyi Onazi and John Mikel Obi.
“There are a lot of positives to take from this game – though I will have expected to see a bit of the Enugu Rangers man Ejike Uzoenyi to bring in more creativity alongside Ramon Azeez,” he concluded.
Nigeria’s draw with Mexico was the third successive draw between the two teams in the space of six years. ---------------------- goal.com
No comments:
Post a Comment