Eaglets will bounce back after Croatia defeat –Amuneke

In from Nifemi Daniel . . .

Golden Eaglets coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, has promised that his team would bounce back stronger despite suffering a 2-1 loss to Croatia early Saturday morning.

“My players wanted to win, but we were not the best during the game. The Croats have asked us many problems. They prevented us from playing our game and deserved to win. My players are very talented, but still have room for improvement collectively,” Amuneke said.

Croatia continued to have the majority of possession for the remainder of the half. In the 39th minute Moro had a strong free-kick saved superbly by Nigeria keeper Akpan Udoh. Croatia would have one more significant chance before the interval but Borna Sosa’s shot was deflected for a corner after Ejike Ikwu’s intervention. When the referee blew the whistle for half-time, Croatia had 18 attempts to Nigeria’s three, but it was the Africans who held the important advantage.

Croatia returned from the break anxious to finally convert a chance and they did so just five minutes into the second half. Josip Brekalo scored the equaliser after Moro wriggled his way along the Nigerian defense’s goal-line and found his team-mate on the back post.

Dario Basic’s Croatia then used their momentum to take the lead four minutes later when they capitalised on an error from Nigeria’s backline. Karlo Majic cooly curled in a right-footed shot to score his second of the tournament and, more importantly, give his team the lead.

Read also: Eaglets won’t underrate Croatia-Amuneke

There were chances for both sides towards the end and Nigeria threatened to score an equaliser in the final minutes. The stand-out moment was Croatia defender Branimir Kalaica’s last-ditch block on Samuel Chukwueze to keep his side 2-1 ahead.

Croatia held on to their lead in the end to become the first Croatian team ever to reach the Round of 16 in the tournament and will now face the runners-up in Group C on Thursday 29 October, while Group A winners Nigeria will wait to see which third-placed team from Groups C, D or E they will come up against in the Round of 16 on Wednesday 28 October.

“I am very proud of my players who played a great match. We approached this game as a final, telling us it was absolutely necessary to win or go home. I believed in my team. It has shown that it can compete with the best teams in the world,” Dario Basic, Croatia coach said.

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