U-23 AFCON: Siasia laments team’s inconsistency

Nifemi Daniel

U-23 Eagles coach, Samson Siasia, has berated his players for their inconsistency after squandering a two goal lead in their 2-2 draw against Egypt in the U-23 African Cup of Nations in Senegal on Wednesday.

Egypt made a great comeback against the U-23 Eagles, rebounding from a 2-0 loss in the first half to a 2-2 draw and even being close to snatching the winning goal.

“We did not play in the second half and we cannot continue like this, if we want to go the Olympics.

“We tend to lose concentration in the second half and we have to fix it,” he lamented.

He added that, “It was the case in the first match against Mali and the same thing happened against Egypt. It is no longer funny.”

Siasia who led Nigeria to winning a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics however warned his players to expect a tough final Group B game against leaders Algeria on Saturday afternoon in Dakar.

“It will be tough battle against Algeria, and we have to be careful about the North Africans, they attack left and right.”

The U-23 Eagles are currently placed second in Group B behind Algeria who also have four points but a superior goal difference.

Algeria drew their opening game with Egypt 1-1 before beating Mali 2-0 in their second game of the competition.

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