The national U-23 team coach Samson Siasia has said he will overhaul his defence after the African champions lost 2-0 to Colombia in their last group match in the Rio Games on Wednesday in Sao Paulo.
Siasia told The PUNCH after the match, “We still have a long way to go if we are to win a medal here but we must achieve by working hard and reducing our errors. We don’t want to go back home now or soon; we want to be on the pitch until the last game here.”
The former Super Eagles manager blamed the changes he made for the loss to the South Americans. He acknowledged that his defence was still worrisome.
He said, “Of course when you make too many changes, it won’t work the way you expected. If you lose, you go home, so all those mistakes we have been making mostly in the backline have to be corrected. We didn’t do a good job on the Colombian forwards. We really have to work harder on our defending.
“In the first half, we had a couple of good chances and Etebo had a very good one that he should have scored. But one good thing about him is that he always put himself in good positions. He didn’t score today; that’s football. Hopefully, in the next game, we can convert our chances and defend better.”
He added, “Colombia has always been a good team, in spite of the challenges they faced before coming to the Olympics. All the teams at this tournament are good; you just have to take your chances when you have them. The Colombians took their chances against us and are now in the quarter-finals.”
The team left Sao Paulo on Thursday morning for Salvador, where they will face Denmark at the Arena Fonte Nova on Saturday.
