Niger U-20 national team head coach Ismaila Tiemoko believes that they should have won their Africa U-20 Cup of Nations Group A opener against South Africa had his side been more clinical in front of the goal.
The Mena conceded a late second-half goal to draw 1-1 with Aamjitas on Saturday at Stade General Seyni Kountche in Niamey.
Up until the 70th minute, the Mena were headed for a win against Amajita, but a slight lapse in concentration gifted the South Africans a point though poachers strike from Siphesihle Mkhize.
“I cannot say that we are satisfied with this match especially since we are hosting the event. It was not easy against a team that played a lot more defensively by being well grouped behind, “Tiemoko told CAF Online.
“We had to find holes to make a difference but this formation had a good defensive organization and was very compact. During the second period, it was a more or less open match and we could have made a difference compared to the opportunities.”
His counterpart Thabo Senong was impressed by the point picked and lauded his charges for the beautiful comeback.
“We had no choice but to play compact against a better-prepared opponent,” he said.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”It was a good match and we were playing against a team that was physically well prepared and more committed than us.”[/perfectpullquote]
“It is true that we played compact but we had no choice against an adversary better prepared than us. So respecting Niger, we had to adopt this tactical option especially since we had lost our captain and our goalkeeper plus a third player without really playing friendly matches during our preparation.”
Niger face Burundi at the same stadium on Tuesday afternoon, before they conclude Group A proceedings against Nigeria next weekend.
