Dream Team were carried away, says Siasia

Nigeria’s U-23 coach, Samson Siasia, has blamed his players for been “carried away” after taking a two-goal lead against Congo only to concede a goal and end the game with a slim 2-1 win.

The third round first leg clash of the African U-23 Championship Senegal 2015 qualifier in Port Harcourt on Sunday could have ended in a convincing win for the hosts after overwhelming the Red Devils for most parts of the game.

The first goal only came on 48 minutes through Junior Ajayi after Congo goalkeeper Christoffer Mafoumbi failed to hold on to an acute-angled shot by Godwin Saviour.

Ajayi doubled the lead six minutes later when he powered home with a brilliant header off a cross from Daniel Etor.

However, Moise Nkonkou reduced the goal deficit for the visitors in the 66th minute when he fired home a rebound from goalkeeper Emmanuel Daniel.

Siasia blames it on a lack of concentration.

“We were carried away (after scoring two goals) instead of concentrating on the match,” Siasia told CAF official website.

“These are the areas we are going to look at (before the second leg). This team is still young. We have a lot of things to put in place. There is a lot of work to do before the second leg in Congo, but I’m comfortable with the score line.”

The former Super Eagles coach has reasons to be optimistic since his charges have shown over time that they are good travellers following recent victories away from home.

They defeated Gabon (4-1) and Zambia (2-0) in Libreville and Lusaka respectively to seal qualification for the All-African Games holding in Brazzaville.

But Congo’s coach has other ideas.

Claude Leroy is also hopeful that his players can end the Nigeria’s dream for a place at the eight-team tournament later in the year.

“We never contemplated about beating the Nigerian team at home because we are still dreaming to be like Dream Team of Nigeria. Today (Sunday) we lost 2-1, but it was the Nigerian team that created a lot of chances. They were better but 2-1 loss is not too bad for my players,” said the veteran Frenchman.

The 2-1 score line means there is still very much to play for in the second leg in Pointe Noire in a fortnight.