Super Eagles’ technical adviser, Eric Sekou Chelle, has offered a very emotional reaction to the home-based team’s 2-0 victory over Congo in their last match at this year’s Championship of African Nations (CHAN 2024), saying it was a well-deserved win for his side.
With corporate support from Showtime, a leading brand in football development, Sports247 reports live from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, that Chelle spoke in glowing terms about the performance of his players during Tuesday’s last group game.
The Franco-Malian tactician expatiated during the post-match press conference, “I think we deserved to win this game, because we didn’t want to lose three out of three.
“It was our last game and our last chance. So, we played well during this game, and we had a lot of rewards.”
Chelle also refuted some insinuations by critical Nigerians that he could be feeling regret for taking up the challenge of handling the home-based players for this competition, as they appear to have left him open for ridicule.
He parried such talk by saying, “I don’t think I was let down, and I don’t think they were so bad. I just feel that the pressure was so much for them. That’s why, sometimes, they played with a feeling like they were scared.
“Today, we played for honour, and they played well. So, I don’t think they let me down, since we did not lose this game. They gave an answer, because they did not want to go back to Nigeria without a point.”
Chelle concluded by admitting that the home-based players and Nigeria as a whole will now have to learn a lot of lessons from CHAN 2024, but then pointed out that Senegal did well due to the lots of experience they have gained from previous editions of the competition.
“These players need to improve. They need to have some experience with this tournament in order to win something in it. Senegal has a great experience, and they did well in the game against us. But we made just one mistake and they scored a goal.
“Against Sudan, the pressure was so big on these players, and there was an accident, which led to our defeat. But now we have a lot of relief,” Chelled admitted.
