Russia head coach Valery Karpin praised the performance of his players in the 1-1 draw with the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Prompts News reports.
The Europeans put up a dominant display in the thrilling encounter played at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow.
Karpin said they were unlucky not to win the game.
” Absolutely everything: from pressure to… I can’t remember a single moment except a mistake when playing an out. You remember? Maybe I just forgot,” he said after the game.
“They didn’t create threats for us, but we created chances. Melekhin has — after a free kick, Barinov has — after leaving defense. The goal we missed can hardly be called created by Nigeria — there wasn’t even pressure there.”
Russia defeated another African side Zambia 5-0 in their previous friendly.
The gaffer admitted that the Super Eagles were more superior to the Zambians.
“They are all – very athletic, powerful, strong teams. Cameroon and Nigeria are noticeably higher in level than Zambia and Kenya. Even the FIFA rating confirms this. They cannot be compared. Nigeria and Cameroon – more interesting,” he added.