Eric Chelle gives reasons for Super Eagles’ loss to Senegal
Tosin Omojola –
Super Eagles head coach Eric Sekou Chelle has attributed Nigeria’s 0-1 loss to Senegal in their CHAN 2024 opener to a lack of intensity and aggression on the part of his players.
In his post-match remarks after the home-based Eagles fell to the defending champion in a Group D game on Tuesday night, Chelle said his players appeared nervous and failed to mentally assert their dominance.
He also admitted that Senegal deserved to win, as they were more proactive and goal-oriented.
“Senegal was more aggressive than us; they put in more intensity. For me it is normal; they deserve the victory. We didn’t get into the game, maybe mentally, or we are scared of something,” Chelle said.
With two more games to be played in the group, Chelle has called on his players to be more ambitious and improve their state of mind.
“We need to be ambitious and be more aggressive. We lost most duels. This is the first match. We have two more games again in the group. We created no chance to score in the first half, so we need to be more aggressive offensively and defensively,” he added.
“Even though we lost most duels defensively, I see good play, and we need to improve our state of mind and be more competitive, because if we play like this against Congo and Sudan, we might be returning back to Nigeria. We have to win our next game if we want to hope to qualify.”
Nigeria will be looking forward to getting a positive result when they play Sudan on August 12, 2025, at the Amani Stadium in Tanzania.
