Argentina U-20 coach Javier Mascherano has expressed disappointment following his team’s round of 16 defeat to Nigeria’s Flying Eagles.
Second half goals from Ibrahim Muhammad and Haliru Sarki earned the Flying Eagles passage into the quarter-finals.
This is the first time ever the Flying Eagles will beat a South American team since they made their debut at the U-20 World Cup in 1983.
While Argentina went into Wednesday’s game on the back of three wins in the group stage, the Flying Eagles managed to qualify for the knockout stage as one of the third best placed teams.
Reflecting on his team‘s defeat former Argentina and Barcelona defender Mascherano said the Nigerian team deserve praise.
“We played the game we had to play and it couldn’t happen,” he was quoted on Argentine national team Twitter handle.
“Football is like that, sometimes it gives you and sometimes it takes away. Today we have to congratulate Nigeria.
“The team tried anyway, we have nothing to blame because the boys left everything.
“Unfortunately the two mistakes we had ended in a goal.”
The Flying Eagles will take on either Ecuador or South Korea in the quarter-finals on Sunday.
In other round of 16 games also played on Wednesday, Italy defeated England 2-1 while Brazil thrashed Tunisia 4-1.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
