Benin national team head coach Michel Dussuyer has admitted the superiority of Nigeria’s Super Eagles over his side, saying that it is only logical that “there is a difference” between both sides.
Dussuyer’s side stunned their more illustrious hosts with a 2nd minute goal scored by team captain Stephane Sessegnon but Nigeria responded with one goal in each half by Victor Osimhen and Samuel Kalu to win the game 2-1 in Uyo.
Dussuyer also believes the penalty handed the advantage to Nigeria.
“We played well in the first half, defended well, Nigeria did not create many opportunities but we conceded a penalty just before the half time which gave more confidence to Nigeria in the second half,” said Dussuyer at the post-match press conference.
While Nigeria got their confidence from the equalising goal, Dussuyer admits his side gave the ball away many times to the Nigerians and stated the logical situation.
“The second half was very hard (for us) and we wasted many balls, gave it to Nigeria so many times.
“In the end we tried to recover after conceding and we had an opportunity at the end (which hit the post) but it is logical; there’s a difference between Nigeria and Benin but we have fought for as much as we can,” added the Frenchman.
The Squirrels (as the Benin national team are known) will now travel back home to host the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone in their second group L game on Sunday.
Nigeria will embark on a trip to Lesotho where they will face their national team on a synthetic pitch in Maseru.
