Chelle admits Nigeria were not good enough in first half of Russia draw

Photo Credit - The Nigeria Football Federation.

Nigeria head coach Eric Chelle has discussed the team’s 1-1 international friendly draw against Russia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Friday.

The Super Eagles entered the match on the back of their Unity Cup triumph, having edged Jamaica 5-4 on penalties. They found themselves trailing in the 27th minute after defender Semi Ajayi turned the ball into his own net.

However, the Super Eagles managed to snatch a draw after Tolu Arokodare, who had come on for Victor Boniface, scored in the 71st minute. Chelle, who remains unbeaten since taking charge of the Super Eagles, admitted that it was not an easy game for his side.

“It was not an easy game because we played against a very good team,” the Malian said after the game as quoted by CompleteSports. “Russia have a good team with lot of pressure and technical quality. They had their chances in first half and they took it. We had ours, but their goalkeeper saved them."

“In the second half, Russia had two chances, but we had a chance and we scored. We didn’t play well in first half. We didn’t enforce our pressing game so well, but we were better in the second half with our pressing and that made the difference for us.”

Chelle concluded; “We’ve made a lot of changes to the squad, and our usual pressing game was a bit difficult, the new players are yet to fully understand how we want to play, so we need to keep working on our playing pattern and try to find balance.”