Abuja (Nigeria), July 1 (Xinhua) Football fans in Nigeria have expressed disappointment over the exit of the West African country from the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Nigeria were defeated by France 2-0 in a Round of 16 match after a hard-fought game, reports Xinhua.
Most Nigerian fans said although the players gave a good fight, the team did not look organised and lacked both technical and tactical depth.
“We started well, but the tactical approach of the coach was not impressive. He was clueless and confused,” said Ebere Okechukwu, a football analyst and consultant.
Another fan, Frank Nnaemeka, said the Nigerian coach, Stephen Keshi, should be blamed for the team’s loss. According to him, Nigeria did not lose the game because of lack of quality players, but rather because of the coach.
“Keshi needs to go back to coaching school,” said the fan.
An engineer, Tunde Owokoniran, said Nigeria lost the match to a more experienced team, although they played well.
“We outplayed the French, but then again that is football. Sometimes you win some and other times you lose some. It was not our day today and as Nigerians, we all feel bad about it.
The other African teams — Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana — had been knocked out at group stage.
