By David Kabiyesi
Still smarting from Nigeria’s elimination from African U-17 Championship as well as upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru, Golden Eaglets gaffer, Nduka Ugbade says his players’ failure to convert begging chances came at a huge cost.
As earlier warned by iwitnesslive.com in Thursday previews, Bukina Faso edged Nigeria 2-1 to book a place in the semi-final of African U-17 Championship, which automatically qualifies the Young Etalon for FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru.
Speaking after the game on Thursday night, Ugbade rued Nigeria’s defeat but maintained that the future of Nigerian football is in safe hands
“The players are disappointed of course because they are young but we must support them because they need to continue their careers.
“We should work on their development because I believe that some of these players will eventually move to the senior national team,” the tactician said after the defeat to Burkina Faso.
He adds; “I am happy with the performance of our players and in such competitions, even if you lose, you gain something by developing the players for the future.”
Looking back at the defeat to Burkina Faso, Ugbade says they would have had a different result were they more clinical infront of goal.
“Everything worked as we had planned, but we could not score with the chances we had. We paid dearly for that. We learn the lessons and move on,” he said.
