Eagles blame lack of faith in home-based players for loss to Mexico

A member of the senior national team of Nigeria who was part of the team that suffered a humiliating 0-4 defeat to Mexico in Sunday’s friendly game insisted that their case wasn’t helped by pre-match comments by Nigerians.

Speaking to OwnGoalNigeria.com upon arrival in Nigeria earlier yesterday from Los Angeles, USA, the player who spoke on the condition of anonymity blamed the Nigerian populace for not having trust in them ahead of the game.

He said right from when they were in camp in Abuja all what was said about the game was centered on how many goals they will concede with no one giving them a chance to spring surprise.”

"We listened to several radio stations while in camp in Abuja and all they were saying was the amount of goals we will concede. No one gave us a chance and it affected the mentality of the team”, he said.

“In our hearts we were defeated even before a ball was kicked. The pre-match criticism where we were called no match for the Mexicans destroyed our morale and the result is the 0-4 bashing. We have however learnt a valuable lesson from the trashing”, concludes the player who is a key element for his team in the Nigerian topflight league.