Tornadoes head coach Mohammed Majin praised his players’ resilience despite the losing 1-0 to Bendel Insurance in the Nigeria Premier Football League NPFL played in Benin on Saturday.
Niger Tornadoes conceded a 93rd added goal to suffer the narrow in Match Day 4 of the 2025/2026 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.
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Substitute Emmanuel Israel’s stoppage-time strike sealed all three points for the hosts, handing Tornadoes their second loss of the season.
Speaking after the game, Tornadoes head coach Mohammed Majin praised his players’ resilience despite the setback, noting that football often delivers painful lessons.
“I want to appreciate the players’ effort; they did their best, but at the end of the day, they succumbed.”
” That’s football for you. You win some, you lose some, and until the final whistle, it’s not over. In all, we stuck to our game plan, and we appreciate everything,” Majin said.
The coach dismissed suggestions of time-wasting from his players, stressing that Tornadoes always set out to win every match.
“As far as we are concerned, we don’t go to any match with the mindset of a draw.”
” We go for outright winning, and whichever result we get, we take it in good faith. You can’t term players’ pain as time-wasting; you are not in the field to know what they are going through,” he explained.
Reflecting on the late goal conceded, Majin admitted his team may have briefly lost concentration.
“It’s not over until it’s over. Maybe that’s what the players thought—that we had finished the game and the referee had not blown the whistle—and that’s how we conceded that dying goal.”
” That’s unfortunate, but we are taking it in good faith and will go home to pick up our three points which is very crucial for us,” he added.
Despite the defeat, Tornadoes remain sixth on the NPFL table with six points, pending results from other centres on Sunday, September 14.
They will next host Ikorodu City on September 21 as they aim to return to winning ways.
