Coach Samson Siasia says he will concentrate on building a solid defence-line after Nigeria U-23 team’s 0-2 loss to Colombia in their final Group B game at the Men’s Olympics Football Tournament Rio 2016.
The African champions are getting set to tackle Group A runners-up, Denmark, in the quarter finals on Saturday.
At the post match conference on Wednesday, Siasia said: “Of course when you make too many changes, it won’t work the way you expected.
Didn’t Do A Good Job
“Going into the knock-out stage, that’s a different ball game. If you lose, you go home, so all those mistakes we have been making mostly in the backline have to be corrected.
“We didn’t do a good job on the Colombian forwards. We really have to work harder on our defending.
“In the first half, we had a couple of good chances and Etebo had a very good one that he should have scored. But one good thing about him is that he always put himself in good positions. He didn’t score today; that’s football. Hopefully, in the next game, we can convert our chances and defend better”.
On his assessment of the Colombia squad, Siasia stated: “Colombia has always been a good team, in spite of the challenges they faced before coming to the Olympics. All the teams at this tournament are good; you just have to take your chances when you have them.
“The Colombians took their chances against us and are now in the quarter –finals”.
On the injury to Oghenekaro Etebo, Coach Siasia said he would have to wait for the verdict of the medical crew. On his part, Captain Mikel Obi said the team did not take the game lightly.
“That’s football. We are professionals and could not have underrated the Colombians. We will work harder ahead of our next game.”
The Nigeria U-23 delegation departed Sao Paulo on Thursday morning for Salvador, where the team confronts Denmark at the Arena Fonte Nova on Saturday evening.