Thelma Osatohanmwen
In their Group A encounter at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire’s head coach, Jean-Louis Gasset, expressed the challenges his team faced due to Nigeria’s heavily defensive approach.
Super Eagles’ head coach, Jose Peseiro, opted for a 3-4-3 formation to thwart the hosts’ attacking threat, successfully limiting the Elephants to only two scoring chances in the first half.
While the defensive strategy stifled Cote d’Ivoire initially, they found themselves outplayed after the break. Gasset acknowledged the physicality of the Nigerians in the match, stating, “It was a very physical match; Nigeria chose to play very low with a five-man defense to exploit counterattacks with their star striker. It was a tightly contested match.”
Elaborating on the physical nature of the game, Gasset admitted, “We didn’t give the impression of being able to compete physically.”
Despite the challenges faced, the Ivorian coach is now focused on regrouping for their final group game against the Nzalang Nacional of Equatorial Guinea next Monday.
