Japan U-23 striker, Shinzo Koroki, has attributed his team's 5-4 loss to Nigeria U-23s to nervousness on the part of some of his team-mates.
Despite arriving Manaus few hours to kick-off of their first Group B match against Japan, the U-23 Eagles went ahead to win the nine-goal thriller.
Oghenekaro Etebo scored four goals while Umar Sadiq got Nigeria's other goal.
Koroki, who equalised for Japan from the penalty spot to make it 1-1, stated that they were second best throughout the game.
“The important thing in an international competition like this is to keep your cool,” said Koroki.
“It seemed like a few of the boys were nervous. If we were calm, we could have played much better football.
“I think everyone who was watching saw it, but we weren’t strong enough on the ball. They won all the 50-50s. We’ve got to be more physical, be aggressive.”
Japan will take on Colombia on Sunday in their next game, while Nigeria will tackle Sweden.
Post a Comment
Post a Comment