Inexperience denied us victory against Mali, says Keshi

The Super Eagles head coach has revealed that his side lost to Malian due to naïveté

In the wake of Nigeria’s defeat to the Les Aigles of Mail in the African Nations Championship opener, coach Stephen Keshi has opened up on why his side bowed to Djibril Dramé’s men.
"I was expecting this kind of result because of the anxiety that comes with this kind of championship for players that have not been exposed to tournaments like this,” he told journalists in South Africa..

"We did not play our game. We only started playing well in the last five to 10 minutes and that was too late,” said Keshi.
"I think this is a perfect opportunity for home-based players to move forward and get exposure. If it’s about the league of each country, we have been out of action for like four months and we have had these players for only three weeks, but I don't know if that was responsible for today," he concluded.
Gbolahan Salami’s header gave the Eagles their only goal of the game. Nigeria’s next game is against Mozambique on January 15 at the Cape Town Stadium.
The Mambas lost their opening game against hosts South Africa 3-1 despite taking the lead.