Curitiba, Brazil (PANA) – With his team playing a disappointing goalless draw against Iran at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Curitiba on Monday, Nigeria’s head coach Stephen Keshi said anxiety was responsible for the result.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Keshi said his players had planned to wrap up the game within the first 25 minutes.
He said he would have to go back to the drawing board to find answers to what went wrong in the match that the Nigerians had been expected to win easily.
On Nigeria’s early goal, which was disallowed, Keshi said he had no comment.
Looking ahead, Keshi said his team’s inability to beat Iran did not mean it would not beat Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Argentina, the other teams in Nigeria’s group.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s midfielder John Mikel Obi, who won the Man of the Match award and was also chosen for dope test, has said he and his colleagues are naturally disappointed “as we know that the first game of any tournament is important”.
“The Iranians had a clear picture of what they wanted, which was to frustrate us,” he said, adding that the Super Eagles were still optimistic of doing better in the subsequent games.
