Coach of Iceland Heimir Hallgrimsson has admitted that his team struggled to cope with the pace of Nigeria’s two goal hero Ahmed Musa in yesterday’s 0-2 loss to the Super Eagles.
Speaking at the post match conference, the coach said his team still have a chance of progressing to the round of 16 despite the loss to Nigeria, which according to him was down to the pace of Musa.
He said although they were set up perfectly to contain the Nigerians, the pace of Musa for both goals is one many teams will struggle to cope with especially when the ball is whipped behind the defence.
” We had our game plan and we stuck to it. Sometimes you have to admit that some players turn up when you least expected. The pace which Musa used in getting behind our defence will trouble any defender in the world ‘, Hallgrimsson said.
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” My defenders did really well but Musa was very quick for them. Same as he would be against most defenders I have seen at this World Cup. The chance to qualify is still there for us”, he said.
Iceland are third in the group heading into their final game against Croatia, where a win for them will not be sufficient unless Nigeria fail to match their feat when they take on Argentina same day.
The final group D games will be decided on Tuesday with Croatia already through while second placed Nigeria need a win over Argentina to be sure of progression if Iceland fail to beat Croatia.
Samuel Thompson
