Nigeria v North Korea: We should have scored more – Manu

Flying Eagles coach, Manu Garba, has slammed his players for not scoring more goals in Thursday’s win over North Korea in their second Group E encounter of the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup. The reigning African champions on Thursday got their quest for glory in New Zealand back on track with a 4-0 victory over North Korea in New Plymouth, three days after suffering a 4-2 loss to Brazil.

Following a goalless first half, a spirited second-half display saw the Flying Eagles romp to a convincing win over the North Koreans courtesy of goals from Kingsley Sokari, Success Isaac and two-goal hero Godwin Saviour.

And Manu, who had prior to the game told reporters in New Zealand that his players were capable of scoring more than the five the Koreans had conceded at the hands of Hungary in Monday’s 5-1 defeat, was unhappy at his team’s failure to see his pre-game prediction come to pass. “I would have loved that we won this game (against North Korea) by six, seven goals,” lamented Manu at the end of Thursday’s game.

“All the same, the victory was most important for us. “And on Sunday our final group game against Hungary will be a must-win.” The Flying Eagles came out smoking in the second half and were two-nil up six minutes into the half courtesy of Saviour’s brace before two further strikes by Sokari and Isaac consigned the North Koreans to their second straight loss. Manu stated that his half time talk had a hand in his team’s second half performance.

“We had a plan for what we wanted to do (in the first half) but they weren’t doing the right thing. We talked to the team and in the second half they got the job done,” said the former Nigeria junior international who also gave credit to the goal-shy North Koreans. “[The North Koreans] have a good side, and they played much better than they did against the Hungarians, but they are lacking when it comes to finishing,” he said.

“It’s not all about winning, but it’s about entertaining the crowd, and that’s something that our side did.” Nigeria’s next game comes up on Sunday against Hungary at the Taranaki Stadium. And with the Hungarians losing 2-1 to Brazil on Thursday, Sunday’s match will go a long way in deciding the fate of the Flying Eagles in the competition.