I am used to pressure from Nigerians, says Ladan Bosso

Head coach of Nigeria’s Under 20 men’s football team, Isah Ladan Bosso says he is now accustomed to facing pressure and criticism from Nigerians and such cannot move him again, www.aclsports.com reports.

Bosso was severely criticised and castigated after his Flying Eagles side lost 1-2 to Uganda on the opening day of the 13th African Games Men’s Football event at the Accra Sports Stadium last Thursday.

Nigeria were not just beaten, they were largely second best to a Ugandan side that looked sharper and more purposeful than their Nigerian counterparts, drawing the irk of Nigerians across all social media spaces.

“I have the heart to absorb pressure but you know we’re dealing with youth players so if you show concern, it can affect them,” replied Bosso when asked about his reaction to criticisms by Nigerians after the loss to Uganda.

He added further:

“Remember we lost our first match in Egypt and we bounced back to beat the hosts and then qualified so it is a situation we have been before.”

Nigeria face South Sudan in their second group B game of the African Games tonight at the Accra Sports Stadium, venue of the men’s football event and Bosso hopes his wards make amends to the mistakes noticed in the loss to Uganda to avoid an even greater pressure.

“The first match is gone, the outcome is a focus to consider for future outings but I see it as a blessing in disguise so it can help us to do well. We have identified the problems we had in the first game and we hope to rectify them against South Sudan,” added Bosso.

Flying Eagles highly rated midfielder Daniel Daga also promised Nigerians that his side have realised their mistakes and will give their best to record a positive outcome on Monday night.

“We wanted to win the match against Uganda but our plans did not turn out as we hoped so we were disappointed. We have realised our mistakes from the game now and we hope to get the job done against South Sudan on Monday night.”

The match between Nigeria and South Sudan kicks off at 8pm local time (9pm Nigerian time) in Accra on Monday night. Senegal vs Uganda in the same group will come up at same venue three hours earlier.