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Argentina U-23 coach Javier Mascherano has praised Nigeria’s U-20 team for beating his team at the U-20 World Cup, Own goal Nigeria.com reports.
Mascherano, who has been promoted to the under-23 squad, watched on as the Nigerian side eliminated his hosts from the tournament in the round of 16 with a 2-0 win.
Looking ahead to the Paris Olympics, the coach said the loss to Ladan Bosso’s side taught his team a valuable lesson about the demands of knockout matches.
“The most important lesson we learned was from Nigeria. We lost 0-2 in a match in which the opponent understood better what they had to do to win. It’s not that we played badly, but in the qualifiers you approach them differently. We were under pressure to win as hosts and maybe that had an influence,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria, Bosso has been relieved of his role as coach of the U-20 team following the expiration of his contract with the team and has since taken up the job at Bayelsa United.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is planning to make him the coach of the Under-23 national team after the team’s failure in the last two Olympic qualifiers under Imama Amapakabo and Salisu Yusuf respectively.
Mohamed Mowiz Suleiman
