Calvin Bassey believes Nigeria’s Super Eagles only have themselves to blame for failing to beat Poland after twice surrendering the lead in an entertaining 2-2 friendly draw in Warsaw, Footynaija reports.
The African giants looked set to hand Eric Chelle another victory as Terem Moffi and Paul Onuachu both found the net at the PGE Narodowy Stadium. However, Poland struck at the end of each half through Kacper Potulski and Przemysław Wiśniewski to deny Nigeria what would have been an impressive away win.
Bassey is convinced that the decisive moments came in the closing stages when the Super Eagles failed to see out both periods of the game.
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“We should have got the win. Two late goals in both halves. It shows there was something we could adjust,” Bassey told reporters after the match.
Despite the disappointment, the Fulham defender pointed to the team’s limited preparation time as a factor. Several players only arrived in camp shortly before kick-off as Chelle continued to assess new options ahead of future competitions.
“A lot of us had different arrival times. A few of us joined camp yesterday, so it is good to get some minutes in the legs.”
Bassey was keen to focus on the positives from a performance that extended Nigeria’s unbeaten run under Chelle to 12 matches.
“I think there were positives to take out of it as any game there were things to work on. So, we are trying to build and improve game by game.”
The former Ajax centre-back also praised the contribution of the new faces introduced by the coach.
“Overall, I think it was a good performance from the boys. A lot of changes and there are a lot of boys not here from Afcon and previously. It is good to get some debuts and for the manager it is amazing to test new players.”
Bassey believes the match highlighted the depth available to Nigeria despite the absence of several established names.
*But, it shows the quality we have in this Nigerian squad. In the Nigeria squad we have an abundance of talents and it is just positive.”
Responding to criticism of the result, he added: “You tell me if it was a bad game. It’s all opinion. We had a game plan and the most important thing is that everyone left the game healthy.”
Nigeria will now switch attention to next week’s friendly against Portugal in Leiria, where Chelle’s side will aim to turn encouraging performances into victories.
