By Rosemary Ugiomoh
A 2-0 win and a place in the Unity Cup final couldn’t make Eric Chelle ease up.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles brushed aside Zimbabwe’s Warriors in London’s semi-final on the back of a Femi Azeez brace. But in his post-match press conference, the head coach made it clear the result wasn’t the full story.
“This was just a friendly. Not a World Cup qualifier,” Chelle said. “The boys still have a lot of work to do.”
The French-Malian coach said his side’s rebuilding project is far from finished. He wants his players to grasp the demands of his technical staff and the standards needed at international level.
“You could see we made mistakes on the ball,” he admitted. “The level is tough. Tomorrow we get back to work and clean those up.”
Azeez’s double secured victory, but Chelle’s focus is already on the bigger picture: using the Unity Cup final to keep testing his squad and embedding his tactical ideas before more critical games come around.
For Chelle, progress matters more than scorelines right now.
