Nigeria’S U-23 coach, Samson Siasia has warned that another lethargic display from his wards will only spell doom for them after they drew 2-2 with Egypt in a group B game at the ongoing Africa U-23 Cup of Nations in Senegal.
The Dream Team led Mali 3-0 at half time in the first group game, but nearly lost as Mali clawed their way back scoring two goals in the second half and were unlucky not to get an equaliser.
The same scenario played out on Wednesday night as Egypt, down 2-0 at half-time, fought back to get a draw and dominated the second half.
Siasia attributed his team’s performance to fatigue but warned that such displays cannot happen again if his team is to progress to the semi-finals
“We did not play in the second half and we cannot continue like this, if we want to go to the Olympics” he told cafonline.com.
“We have to be careful. We tend to lose concentration in the second half and I have to fix it. It was the case in the first game against Mali and the same thing happened against Egypt.
“It is no longer funny. It will be a tough battle against Algeria, and we have to be careful about the North African sides, they attack left and right.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria captain, Azubuike Okechukwu has said he and his team-mates are calm ahead of today’s decisive game against Algeria.
“We know the Algerians. We are not afraid of them. We respect them but we are not afraid of them.
“We will play our game, try to win and I am sure we will come out with a good result,” said the Yeni Matalatyaspor of Turkey midfielder.
Nigeria needs at least a draw to make it to the semi-final of the competition as a loss could see the Dream Team crash out.
Incidentally, Nigeria hammered Algeria 4-1 when both teams clashed in the final group game at the inaugural tournament in Morocco four years ago.
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