Coach Aliyu Zubair Blames Early Goals for Team’s Defeat to Argentina
Written by Alonge Akinlolu on 9 — 10
Nigeria’s coach, Aliyu Zubair, has attributed his team’s defeat to Argentina to a poor start and lack of intensity off the ball.
Speaking after the match, Zubair admitted that conceding early disrupted their game plan and affected the players’ composure.
“I think the early goal is part of what destabilised us. We conceded very early, and even the second goal came not too far from the first. That brought about the destabilisation in our approach,” he explained.
The coach also highlighted his team’s failure to press effectively as a key weakness that allowed the Argentines to dominate.
“The level of our fight off the ball was not enough. That’s what gave the Argentines a lot of opportunity and space to operate. Anytime we lost the ball, we weren’t fighting back quickly,” Zubair added.
