Eaglets’ goals ruined our tactics –Brazil coach

In from Nifemi Daniel . . .
Brazil coach Carlos Amadeu has attributed his team’s 3-0 loss to Nigeria to the early goals scored by the Golden Eaglets.

Brazil had never lost at Vina del Mar’s Sausalito stadium in FIFA competitions until their 3-0 defeat by Nigeria in the FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015 quarter-finals on Sunday.

“We knew that if we wanted to win, we had to make the most of any chances that we created, especially if we were in control of proceedings at any point,” he told FIFA.com.

He added that, “We’d have liked to see how Nigeria would’ve reacted to going behind. But we wasted our opportunities and then they scored three goals in five minutes, so we’ll never know.”

He further stressed that his team would have bounced back if they had scored a goal.

“I haven’t stopped to think whether or not having dominated them so heavily for 15 minutes is a consolation. If you look back at the goals, none of them came from us losing our balance. That only happened after the third goal.”

Read also: U-17 World Cup: Eaglets soar into semi-final

Amadeu added: “For the opener, the No9 [Victor Osimhen] deserves the credit. We knew that he likes to sneak behind his markers at the far post and had prepared for that, but he got on the end of a good cross and produced a fine header.

“For the second goal, it was a long ball from the keeper that the No9 helped on into the middle the only way he could and his team-mate scuffed his shot, which hit the ground and bounced in. The third almost trickled in after our goalkeeper let it slip through his hands. It was an individual error, but one that is acceptable in this age group.”

Amadeu explained what instructions he gave his players at half-time: “I asked them not to lose their heads. If you come out gung-ho against Nigeria and leave gaps, you can end up getting thrashed. That’s why I preferred for us to keep our shape and try to nick a goal without getting desperate. If we’d scored, that would’ve been the time to go for broke in search of more goals.”

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