Nigeria vs Mali: George, Omeruo insist Super Eagles were commendable despite loss

The Nigeria men’s national team interim manager Finidi George and Kenneth Omeruo, who captained the team against Mali, have lauded the Super Eagles’ performance in their 2-0 friendly loss to Les Aigles on Tuesday night.

Following a 2-1 win over Ghana at the Grand Stade Marrakech in Morocco on Friday, coach George’s Eagles were handed a quick reality check as goals from El Bilal Toure and Kamorou Dounmbia ensured Mali got their first win over Nigeria since 1975.

While Les Aigles capitalised on their chances, the reverse was the case for the Eagles who failed to register a single shot on target throughout 90 minutes of George’s second, and possibly last game in charge of the team.

The Ex-Real Betis winger, however, believes the unavailability of Super Eagles’ top strikers prevented the team’s commendable efforts from yielding total positive results.

“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,” the 52-year-old reacted post-match.

“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 are 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,” coach George concluded.

Reechoing the coach’s sentiment, the team’s stand-in captain Omeruo added, “I think we played a better second half, it wasn’t a bad game, we just didn’t take our chances and they scored two goals. Overall, I think we played a good game.

“I think it was a good outing for us, fantastic spirit. The players that were here gave their best. We just couldn’t score in the game.”

Next up for the currently coachless Super Eagles will be the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and the Benin Republic in June.