By Ernest Victor

The Interim coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Finidi George, has commended his players despite losing 2-0 to Mali on Tuesday night, March 26.

Finidi George was out of ideas as he watched his team suffer an embarrassing 2-0 defeat at the hands of lowly-rated Mali at the Grand Stade de Marrakech in Morocco.

The Malian team took the lead in the 18th minute through the boots of 22-year-old El Bilal Touré. In the 87th minute, 21-year-old Kamory Doumbia doubled the lead after a terrible back pass from Chidozie Awaziem.

The defeat came barely four days after Finidi George led Nigeria to beat Ghana 2-1 in an international friendly game at the same venue where they lost to Mali.

In his assessment of how the Super Eagles performed under him, Finidi George, who has applied to be the team’s permanent coach, said he liked that his team played well in the two friendly games.

The current Enyimba of Aba head coach noted that if he had the team’s top strikers, Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface, and Taiwo Awoniyi, available for the game, they could have made the difference.

“This is a team that keeps the ball very well, but if we had our injured strikers available, we would have changed the one on the pitch immediately,” Finidi told reporters after the Eagles’ 2-0 defeat against Mali.

“Losing two strikers forced us to play wide and as an aggressive team, we did all we could. And you know football is all about victory.

“Lost one and won one and we were not outplayed in the two matches gives me joy as a coach of the Super Eagles.

“I would have loved a different result in this game but that’s not the case if we look at the performance of the players, it’s commendable.”