Nigeria recorded a comfortable 4-2 victory against arch rivals Ghana in the opening game of the U17 WAFU B Championship, but head Coach Nduka Ugbade has suggested his team was “very luck”.
In his post-game presser at the Cape Coast Stadium, Ugbade attributed his Team’s victory to Ghana’s misfortunes in the MRI scandal, which gave the hosts just two weeks to prepare for the championship.
The Nigerian lads raced into a 3-0 lead inside Fifty-one minutes before the hosts responded. Ghana reduced the deficit to a two-goal lead, but were trailing again by three in the 77th minute.
A late penalty helped the Starlets save face, but Ugbade praised the team as a formidable side that put up a good fight.
When asked what weaknesses he noticed in the Ghana team, Ugbade said, “The issue is that they had no major weakness.
“But you must understand a basic fact concerning the team. Across Africa we thought that coming to Ghana they’ll be able to win the competition, surely because they’re strong enough.
“However something happened, a lot of the players failed the MRI and it took two weeks to build a very formidable team like this.
“Now imagine if they had not failed the MRI it would have been tougher than this and probably Nigeria will be carried home as well.”
“We were very very lucky against Ghana Today. I hope that Ghana comes up strong while we also grow strong and at the end of the day we’ll have a strong and friendly encounter again at the end.”
“This is what I believe, I don’t know Tomorrow but we have three matches to go.”
