A prominent member of the Atlanta '96 Olympic winning squad, Garba Lawal, has hinged the Under-23 team's failure to win gold in the men's soccer event of the just concluded Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on the lack of quality and inexperience in the side.
Lawal graduated from the Olympic team to command regular starting roles in the Super Eagles, insisted that Argentina deserved to win the gold medal after beating Nigeria 1-0 in the final on Saturday in Beijing.
The versatile former Holland-based player said although he expected Nigeria to reach the final, but was not convinced the team could win the competition.
"I wanted us to win but the team lacked the quality and experience to do so, the Argentines were clearly better. Individually, they were better and more organized," he said.
"Our players deserve lots of praise for giving the country silver at the competition. I hope we'll perform better next time," he said.
According to him, the 1996 squad was incomparable to the 2008 team because there was no basis for comparison, adding that the Atlanta '96 squad was stronger and the majority of the team was regulars in the Super Eagles.
He insisted that the Argentine team the country defeated 3-2 to win the Atlanta '96 gold medal was stronger than the 2008 squad.
"We played against the likes of Ariel Ortega, Roberto Sensini, Hernan Crespo, Roberto Ayala, Diego Simeone and Jose Chamot," he said.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article