Sweden Olympic National Team coach Hakan Ericson has retracted his statements concerning the Nigerian U23 team, and has admitted they are superior than the first team they faced at the Rio Olympic Games, Colombia.
Days leading up to the clash at the Arena Amazonia, the 56-year-old had picked holes in the Nigerian defending in their opener against Japan, but his team did not measure up to the quality of the African champs on Monday morning.
“I think we showed that it is possible to play against them. We were not at all up to standard in the first half, ” Ericson told TV3.
Asked to compare Nigeria and Colombia, he replied : “Now we had an opponent who was better. Above all, the enormous physical (advantage).”
The Samson Siasia-led side were better on the day in all indices, with 21 shots compared to the Swedes who managed 4, better possession and more corner kicks in their favour.
Nigeria had ten shots on target , whereas the Scandinavians managed one throughout the game.
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