Omeruo said, “I think it was a good outing for us, fantastic spirit. The players that were here gave their best. We just couldn’t score in the game.”
By Kehinde Okeowo
Super Eagles defender, Kenneth Omeruo has expressed his disappointment following the Super Eagles 2-0 defeat to the Eagles of Mali.
He, however, believed the defeat was unmerited and that they were unlucky to have been on the losing side.
TheNiche had earlier reported that the Super Eagles fell to a 2-0 defeat against their fellow West Africans at the Grand Stade de Marrakech on Tuesday night.
Mali opened the scoring as early as the 18th minute through El Bilal Toure, who capitalized on Chidozie Awaziem’s blunder to put his team ahead from close range in the first half.
Subsequently, Moses Simon and Cyriel Dessers both had chances to get Nigeria level but could not convert their opportunities.
Kamory Doumbia, however, sealed the victory for the Malians with an 84th-minute strike from the centre of the box.
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The defeat means interim coach, George Finidi, who defeated the Black Stars of Ghana 2-1 in his first game on Friday, has now lost his first game in charge of the Nigerian team.
Apart from this, it was the first time in 49 years that Mali will be beat Nigeria.
Speaking on the loss with NFF TV, Omeruo said: “I think we played a better second half, it wasn’t a bad game, we just didn’t take our chances and they scored two goals. Overall, I think we played a good game,”
He added: “I think it was a good outing for us, fantastic spirit. The players that were here gave their best. We just couldn’t score in the game.”
The Super Eagles will now shift their attention to 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic in June.
