Stephen Keshi "We didn’t play badly"

(AFP) – Nigerian boss Stephen Keshi, admitted
his side lacked the patience to break down
Iran’s stubborn ranks of defence after their
plan to get an early goal never transpired.

“There was a lot of anxiety. My players tried to
finish the game in the first 25 minutes, but
when the goal didn’t come I think we pushed a
bit too hard and frustrations starting to come
in,” he said.

“I am not happy, but we have to give respect
to Iran. They came in, they had their
gameplan, they sat back and they did it well.”
Nigeria face Bosnia and Herzegovina next in a
game that could go a long way to deciding who
is likely to finish second in the group behind
Argentina.
And Keshi retains hope despite failing to pick
up the three points in their easiest game in the
group on paper.

“We saw what happened with Costa Rica and
with Holland and Spain, so in football you can
never tell. Sometimes it goes your way,
sometimes it doesn’t.
“Just because we didn’t win people think we
played badly. I don’t think we played badly, it
was just that we didn’t score the goals we
needed.”

Meanwhile, Iran coach Carlos Queiroz has
defended his side’s defensive tactics after they
were booed off by the Brazilian public
following their 0-0 draw with Nigeria in
Curitiba on Monday.

Queiroz’s mens’ preparations for the
tournament have been undermined by
international sanctions against the Iranian
government that has seen their funding cut
and made it difficult to organise friendlies
against top international opposition.
And with 14 of his 23-man squad based in the
domestic Irani league, Queiroz hailed his side’s
efforts and said fans had to be realistic of the
spectacle they could offer.

“The spectators maybe didn’t see it this way,
but in football when you play with attitude,
soul, emotions, tension it can also be an
attractive game and that is what happened,”
said the former Real Madrid boss.
“Of course you would prefer to see four or five
goals and I understand that, but for us we
prefer to go home with one point.
“We come from a nation that doesn’t have the
same facilities. We don’t have players from the
biggest teams. Instead they showed they are
honest players for 90 minutes with
concentration and hard work so they deserve
to celebrate.
“We cannot even play friendly games under the
economic problems.

“I hope that after playing against a great team
like Nigeria our players get the sympathy and
respect they deserve.”
Iran coped ably against Nigeria’s Premier
League stars as the African champions failed to
create any clear-cut chances after a promising
opening.

But Queiroz, who guided Portugal to the last
16 in the 2010 finals, claimed he hasn’t had
time yet to think of how to stop four-time
World Player of the Year Lionel Messi and his
Argentine teammates when the sides meet in
Belo Horizonte on Saturday.
“We managed to frustrate the football of
Nigeria for the first 20 minutes and then we
had to stop their stars who began to take it
upon themselves to make the game,” said the
61-year-old Mozambique-born Portuguese
coach.

“It is very hard to stop (John Obi) Mikel,
(Victor) Moses, (Peter) Odemwingie etc.
“But step-by-step we defended very well. We
played a realistic game and we always had the
intention to score a goal. In the end it was a
draw. That was a fair result because nobody
deserved to win the game.
“Now I am so tired I just want to enjoy this
point we have achieved. We will have time to
think about our next game against Argentina in
the coming days.”