The Nigeria captain in the Rio Olympic 2016 Mikel Obi has said the national men’s football team are determined to meet the high expectations of Nigerians.
according to correspondence, Chelsea midfielder said the team’s 2-0 defeat by Colombia on Wednesday should not be used to judge the team. Teofilo Gutierrez scored the first goal for Colombia in the fourth minute while Dorlan Pabon beat Nigeria goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi from the spot in the 63rd minute.
Nigeria face Denmark in the quarterfinals at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador on Saturday.
Mikel said, “Just as the coach (Siasia) rightly pointed out, we came to Sao Paulo for this match to win but it turned out differently. We came here looking for a win. But that’s football. We are professionals and could not have underrated the Colombians. The Colombians may not have started so well but they are picking up too.
“We will work harder ahead of our next game (against Denmark).”
Akpeyi told reporters, “It will be not right to rate us with this match; we are better than this. We beg that Nigerians do not abandon us and withdraw their support because we lost this game. Things will surely get better.”