AFCON: Why We Lost Against Nigeria – Angola Coach, Pedro Goncalves

Angolan National team coach, Pedro Goncalves, believes his team didn’t enjoy the kind of privileges the Super Eagles of Nigeria have been enjoying in the 2023 AFCON which was why his team lost to them.

Goncalves who has been in charge of the Angola national team since 2019 proved that he had a compact team at the 2023 AFCON by leading the lowly-rated side to record three wins and one draw before they met Nigeria in the quarter-finals of the tournament on Friday,

Despite looking more compact than the Super Eagles, the star-studded Nigerian side proved to be too good for them with a lone goal courtesy of a strike from Ademola Lookman.

The Super Eagles would have won the game 2-0 if Victor Osimhen’s powerful header in the second half wasn’t controversially counted as an off-side.

In his assessment of the game, the Portuguese tactician believes that the Super Eagles enjoyed the privilege of being in the same city, Abidjan, since the tournament started on January 13.

He also claimed that his players are not as exposed as Super Eagles players who are playing in some of the best leagues in the world.

“It is true that we played against a very strong opponent. But the Nigerian players were fresher than ours, and their physical display made them able to create more chances than us,” coach Pedro Goncalves said.

“Most of their players take part in very high-level competitions, and they have never gone out of Abidjan. But we’ve gone to three different cities in the course of this tournament, so this triggered fatigue for my players.

“Also, most of my players play in the home league, and some of them aren’t experienced playing in big competitions like the AFCON.”