Flying Eagles’ Coach, Manu Garba, has admitted that the two mistakes made by goalkeeper Joshua Enaholo cost his side a point from their opening game against Brazil.
The South American giants maintained their historic record of not losing to Nigeria in a thrilling clash at the Taranaki Stadium in New Plymouth, New Zealand on Monday morning.
A brace from Judivan Flor da Silva and strikes from Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Boschila cancelled out first half goals from Isaac Success and Musa Yahaya for the Flying Eagles.
While the score stood at 2-2 at half time, Boschilla gave Brazil an early advantage in the second half when he tried his luck from distance, which managed to glide past Enaholo into the net.
Enaholo then let the ball slip from his grasp, allowing Judivan to grab his second as he tapped in while virtually horizontal with the line.
“It’s a huge disappointment,” Garba said at the post-match press conference as reported on the FIFA website.
Although, the coach did not mention Enaholo by name, it was clear the what he was referring to when he added: “We carved out the better chances in the first half and we should have led at the break. The first 45 minutes reflected what we’re capable of.
“We simply made two mistakes that cost us dearly in the second period. All in all we played our part in a really great match and I’d like to congratulate Brazil on their victory; they’re a very good team.”
The Flying Eagles next face North Korea on Thursday.