Nigeria had the upper hand in ball possession, had 14 shots on goal to Uruguay’s nine but still lost 2-1 to the South American champions forcing their Head Coach, Oscar Tabarez to describe the Super Eagles as pride to football.
Speaking at a post match conference the veteran Uruguayan coach hailed the tenacity of the Nigerians, adding that the game could have gone either way but his side had a little bit of more experience. Now looking a bit frail Tabarez cut the picture of a man who was relieved that the game against the African champions has finally come to an end.
Top striker, Luis Suarez, was seen walking away from the team’s bus in a black suit and trousers after the game apparently angry at his substitution midway in the second half of the match but some say he might be heading for contractual talks as he prepares for life after Liverpool.
On his own part, Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, said his team was very good on the night but were as usual wasteful. “We gave the game our all but you know Uruguay has been together for eight years and we are just rebuilding, sooner than later we will catch up with the rest of the best teams in the world.”
Before the match proper there were a lot of skirmishes between the Brazilian Police and protesters who insisted on stopping the game, because of what they perceived as corruption by those in government. As a result the Eagles and their officials came earlier for the game, same as their Uruguay counterparts.
At the end of the day, the police had the upper hand as the game went on as planned but the protest has continued to spread against the nation famous for producing some of the best footballers in history like Edson Arantes Dos Nascimento, popularly known as Pele.
