Nigeria on Thursday night got off with a defeat in the men’s football event of the ongoing 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana.
In their opening match with Uganda, they lost 2-1 in Accra. The Ugandans shot ahead in the 10th minute through Kiza Arafat Usama, Heritage Times HT reports.
The Flying Eagles as the Nigerian side is known, fought back and levelled up in the 37th minute through Sadiq Muhammad.
But as the game was drawing to a close, Uganda snatched the winner in the 81st minute through Ivan Irinimabozi.
Reacting, the head coach of the Flying Eagles, Ladan Bosso, expressed optimism that his team would fare better despite initial setback.
He said, “We would have a positive meeting with the players, it is important that they express themselves.
“Logically we would have liked to have started (the tournament) in another way, but the players are clear that there are two games ahead that could make so much difference.
“Anyone has the possibility of being a starter – I’m optimistic the players know what they stand to achieve and the task ahead.
“We talked about football with the group, about how we can improve the mistakes we had and thus move on with a positive mentality
“We know what we have to do in the upcoming games, which is to go out and look for victory, we are prepared for that.
“For every player, being in the national team is a dream, we did not start the way we wanted, but we will continue fightin lg for that dream that we all have.”
Many Nigerians who spoke through their handles on social media blamed lack of adequate preparation, occasioned by few days of training in less than two week might have contributed to the performance of Flying Eagles.
They however, expressed belief that the team can get better results in the remaining group matches.
The first match outcome meant Nigeria lost to Uganda at the cadet level for the first time in 12 years.
