Olaleye Idowu
Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle, has suggested why Senegal defeated Nigeria 1-0 in their opening 2024 African Nations Championship, CHAN, Group D tie on Tuesday evening.
Urban Express News Online reports that a second-half goal from Christian Gomis gave Senegal the victory against Nigeria at the Amani Stadium in Tanzania.
Speaking at his post-match press conference, Chelle insisted that the Senegalese defeated his home-based Super Eagles players because they were more aggressive than his team during the encounter.
According to him, the Senegalese side showed greater intensity throughout the match, adding that they deserved the victory.
“Senegal was more aggressive than us. They put more intensity than us, and for me, this is normal. They deserve this victory,” Chelle said.
Chelle also admitted that his team made a mistake in the second half against Senegal.
“In the second half, we scored a goal. This was a small mistake. But this is normal because we never got into this game. Maybe mentally, or maybe we were scared about something,” he added.
Nigeria will now face Sudan in their second CHAN game next Tuesday.
