Atletico Madrid coach, Diego Simeone has showered praises on the Nigerian players that played against his side in an exhibition friendly on Tuesday, with a verdict that the Eagles showed the high level of talents Nigeria has to offer in the round leather game.
Though the B-squad Eagles lost the match 3-2 at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, Simeone was left beaming with admiration for the skills and determination shown by the squad, who even got the game’s first goal off a scorcher by former Golden Eaglets’ captain, Kelechi Nwakali.
Nwakali and Usman Mohammed scored for the Eagles with Angel Correa, Fernando Torres and Borja Garces finding the net for the visitors.
Eagles coach, Salisu Yusuf also showered praises on his boys despite the limited training sessions together and was happy that his boss, Gernot Rohr was in the stands to see the game and says he must have observed great qualities in the players.
It was a highly entertaining tie graced by Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel and other dignitaries, after which Simone admitted his side’s victory did not come easy.
In the wake of the five-goal thriller at ‘The Nest of Champions,’ Simeone said Nigerian players possess the right level of quality needed to play in the top leagues of Europe.
The Europa League winning coach said: “There are talents in Nigeria and with the players that played, they have the quality to join the top clubs in the world. It was not an easy game for us, but in the end, I’m glad we got the victory.”
