CHAN: Eagles Were Too Good -Niger Coach

Niger coach Francois Zahoui has admitted that Nigeria were too good for his side after the Super Eagles claimed a 4-1 victory in the teams’ opening Group C match at the 2016 Africa Nations Championship on Monday.
Zahoui praised Nigeria for their powerful performance, but believes his side can bounce back in their remaining games.
“Nigeria is a very good side, you could all see how they came back in the second half strongly and with determination,” he told Tidesport source.
“We kind of lost concentration immediately the second half began and that is what finished us.
“We are in a very tough group but what we can do is to generously accept the defeat and start work on our next game because we tried our best against Nigeria but they proved to be too good.
“We want to try and make amends in our next game but let’s remember Guinea are a very aggressive team, but we will learn from our mistakes against Nigeria and try to give our best performance as it is a tournament not a league.”
Meanwhile, hat-trick hero, Chisom Chikatara, midfielder Usman Mohammed and defender Orji Kalu have pushed for starting shirts with Nigeria’s Super Eagles at the CHAN on the strength of their displays against Niger, officials have disclosed.
Chikatara came off the bench in the 58th minute to replace the hugely ineffective Tunde Adeniji and he showed his class with three well-taken goals and could even have scored more against Mena.
He has done more than enough to lead the Eagles strike force against Tunisia on Friday afternoon.
Usman Mohammed did more in the 20 minutes he was on the pitch than the older and more experienced Bartholomew ‘Mosquito’ Ibenegbu produced in 70 minutes.
“‘Mosquito’ was far apart from the two defensive midfielders, Paul Onobi and Ifeanyi Matthew. He could not thread a through pass to the attack, he did not follow the tactical instructions,” said one official.
Jamiu Alimi was outstanding in the team’s training camp in South Africa, but he was a nervous wreck in the heart of the defence against Niger on Monday so much so that he bagged a booking after a late reaction and he was promptly hauled off after just 16 minutes.
And his replacement Orji Kalu came in to post a solid display in central defence, a position he plays for his club Enugu Rangers, even though the Eagles have used him in right back.
With the return from suspension of Austin Obaroakpo, it is left to be seen whether coach Sunday Oliseh will stick with the new central defence pairing of Kalu and Stephen Eze or get Obaroakpo back in the deep end right away against Tunisia on Friday.

CHAN Eagles hat trick hero, Chison Chikatara (13) gets past a Nigerien defender during the Eagles 4-1 victory in their opening match of the ongoing 2016 CHAN in Rwanda