Argentina boss bemused after La Albiceleste throw away two-goal lead and lose 2-4 to Nigeria; says team must be mentally strong in tough moments
Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli could not understand how his team threw away a comfortable two-goal lead as Nigeria fought back to win their friendly 4-2 in Krasnodar. Ever Banega curled in a free-kick before Sergio Aguero made it 2-0 after 36 minutes, with the Manchester City forward later taken to hospital as a precaution after fainting during half-time. Leicester striker Kelechi Iheanacho started the recovery for the Super Eagles with another well-executed free-kick just ahead of the break. Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi swept in an equaliser five minutes after the restart and another from defender Brian Idowu, on his debut, swiftly turned the match around.
Nigeria's Alexander Iwobi (right) gets past Argentina's Cristian Pavon during their international friendly in Russia on Tuesday. Pic/AFP
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Iwobi netted a fourth with 17 minutes left to complete a remarkable comeback and leave Sampaoli facing more questions over the direction of his team on the road towards next summer's finals. "It was a very difficult game to explain," said Sampaoli, who was without Lionel Messi after the Barcelona playmaker returned to Spain following the friendly with 2018 World Cup hosts Russia in Moscow. "In the first half we could have been three or four nil ahead, but ended up at 2-1. Then in the second half, in just nine minutes with three long shots, they scored three goals. After this, the momentum was in favour of Nigeria. "We did not have the energy of the first half and Nigeria's lead could have been extended further."
Sampaoli
Sampaoli added: "All these tour matches give us the opportunity to evaluate and draw conclusions. From this, we must draw a clear diagnosis of what happened for what is to come. Mental strength has a lot to do with the future. We must have the ability to know how to change difficult moments without going into madness."
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