Jose Peseiro explains why Nigeria lost to Ivory Coast

Super Eagles' quest to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the fourth time ended on a disappointing note after they lost the final game to the host nation, Ivory Coast.

The head coach of the Super Eagles, Jose Peseiro blamed the defeat of his team on a lot of factors but he highlighted the pool of talents that the Ivorians had in their team heading into the final match of the tournament.

He said,

"Cote d’Ivoire were the main favourites for this tournament; they have very good players, wingers, and very fast wingers. Quality wingers in attack, they are a good team but they were almost out, I don’t know if that situation did change the pressure. They were fantastic; they didn’t play with pressure, and they didn’t feel nervous, but on the opposite, my players, my team felt nervous more than their opponents.”

Peseiro also spoke about the lack of possession by the Super Eagles in the match. According to him, the Nigerian players lost almost every ball that came their way and he could not understand why they did so.

He continued,

"We lose many balls; I don’t know why; I don’t think my players were comfortable today. From the back, we lose too many balls, and with that, you allow the opponent to create many chances, and they attack and attack.”

However, he insisted that the players deserved praise from everyone because of the way they played throughout the tournament.