The interim head coach of the Nigeria U-23 team, Fatai Amoo, has said the display of his boys against host Brazil has justified their emergence as the African champions and shown that they really can win gold at the Olympics in Rio come August this year.
Amoo admitted that his boys struggled to contain the hosts in the first half as they launched their attack from the left wing, but the team was able to redress that in the second half.
He said: “The first half was very difficult for us, but then it is expected, having in mind that we scored an early goal and as such it was expected they would come all out against us to get the equalizer, but I must give my boys a lot of credit for holding their own.
“The boys did a great job if you recall that 80 percent of the boys we brought here were just meeting one another for the first time and we needed to see all of them in match situation.
“I’m happy we have seen them and this is hoping that as we play more friendlies, we would discover more players that will compete for jerseys before the Olympics proper.
“No doubt, our goalkeeper (Emmanuel Daniel) kept us in the game with a number of great saves before he was substituted.
“Even the substitute (Yusuf Mohammed) also did his bit.
“All in all, some players like Ezekiel Imoh and Sodiq Popoola were outstanding and I am happy for the team.”
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