Former Nigerian Player, Abiodun Obafemi Player Blames semi Final Loss On poor tactics

Nigeria’s Dream team VI lost out to Germany in Sao Paulo on Wednesday night, missing out on an opportunity to win gold in the soccer competition.

The team played poorly and had themselves to blame as they found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 defeat.

A member of the Nigerian team which won gold at the 1996 Olympics, Abiodun Obafemi has blamed the loss on a lack of tactical expertise.

The former defender told Goal.com; “Well, I think we played against a formidable and better team,”“The cohesion and the urgency was not there, until later in the second half. I was expecting the whole team, particularly the officials of the team to have studied the previous games of the German team.

“I watched the Germans with the team they played in the quarterfinal and expected the coaching crew would have studied them well and planned a better tactical approach.

“I believe we didn’t do our homework. I was expecting us to close-mark them but we allowed them to play freely and dictate the pace of the game.

“We made it too easy for them. I expected we should have won the game. I’m not really happy with the outcome because the approach was not right.

“I was expecting a do-or-die spirit from the boys. Yes there were couple of players who stepped up their game, but I did not see them show great desire and seriousness to win the game.