SUPER Eagles head coach, Éric Chelle, has congratulated Man of the Match Femi Azeez following his impressive goal-scoring debut for Nigeria, while also highlighting areas of the Millwall winger’s performance that still require improvement.
News Point Nigeria Sport reports that Azeez enjoyed a dream debut for the Super Eagles after scoring twice in Nigeria’s 2-0 victory over the Warriors of Zimbabwe in the Unity Cup semi-final played at The Valley on Tuesday.
The Millwall winger opened the scoring as early as the fifth minute after being set up by striker Terem Moffi.
Moffi later provided another assist for Azeez, who grabbed Nigeria’s second goal two minutes after the hour mark to seal the victory for the Super Eagles.
Despite praising the winger for his decisive contribution, Chelle admitted he was not entirely satisfied with some aspects of the player’s overall display.
“He scored two goals, I congratulate him, but he lost a lot of balls, so not happy with him even though he recovered some of these balls,” Chelle said during the post-match media briefing.
The Super Eagles coach also revealed that he instructed his players to maintain aggressive pressing throughout the entire duration of the game.
“I also asked them to do the high pressing for the whole 90 minutes,” he added.
Chelle further commended his experimental squad for their overall performance, noting that the team played with remarkable cohesion despite several players featuring together for the first time.
The coach described the display as one that reflected a team that had spent months playing together.
“It was not easy for some of the players to play for the first time against a strong team like Zimbabwe,” he said.
“But this is a friendly not a World Cup or AFCON qualifier.
“All the same we deserved our victory and I am happy for the result.”
The victory marked a successful beginning for Chelle as head coach of the Super Eagles, with fans also praising the team’s attacking display and intensity throughout the encounter.