Siasia


Pius Ayinor,  Rio de Janeiro
National Under-23 team  coach Samson Siasia and his captain Mikel Obi have admitted that  Germany  were  the better  side in their Rio 2016 Olympics men’s football  semifinal match in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.
Lukas Kostermann scored the first goal for Germany in the ninth minute   while Petersen rifled home in the  88th minute to reach the final after  sealing  a 2-0 victory for the Europeans in the encounter.
Germany face Brazil, who defeated Honduras 6-0 in the first semis, in Saturday’s final, while Nigeria and Honduras clash  in the third-place game for bronze.

However,  Siasia and Mikel   said the team would  put the loss behind them and fight for the bronze medal  with the third place match.
Siasia said, “I am disappointed. Even we had chances, we couldn’t score. The German team did better.
“It is a shame but we don’t deserve to stay in the final playing like that.”
Mikel said, “We didn’t play well. We don’t deserve to be in the final.”
But the Chelsea midfielder,  who had promised to get the gold is not giving up on winning a medal,
“We are professional players and hopefully we can win a medal,” he said.
The football bronze is seen as possibly the last hope of the country picking up any medal from the Rio Games.
The entire Nigerian squad left London 2012 without any medal even though neither the men nor women’s football teams qualified for the London Games.
Nigeria won gold  at the  Atlanta ’96 Olympics  and silver at Beijing 2008
THE PUNCH