The head coach of the U23 team of Argentina Javier Mascherano has praised the Nigeria U20 team who defeated his team at the U20 World Cup, OwngoalNigeria.com reports.
Mascherano who was elevated to the U23 side watched on as the Nigerian side knocked his team who were the host out of the tournament in the round of 16 with a 2-0 win.
Heading into the Olympics in Paris, the coach said the defeat to the Ladan Bosso led side taught his team a valuable lesson on the demands of knock out games.
” Biggest lesson was by Nigeria. We lost 0-2 in a game where the opponent understood better what to do to win. Not like we played badly but you approach games in the knock out differently. There was pressure on us to win as the host and maybe that played a role”, he said.
Meanwhile back in Nigeria Bosso has been relived off his role as the coach of the U20, following the expiration of his contract with the team and has since picked up the job of Bayelsa United.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) plan to make him the coach of the U23 team, after the failure of the team in the last two Olympic qualifiers under Imama Amapakabo and Salisu Yusuf respectively.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
