Brazil coach rues Nigeria 2009 ouster

Ben Nwachuckwu, Abuja - 03.11.2009

BRAZIL national U-17 coach, Luiz Nizzo, may have hung the boot with which he trained several youth players in his country but he claimed the results his team got have nothing to do with his decision, even as he lamented the poor results recorded by his boys after performing very well in the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup, which he said were not the best they could offer.

Fielding questions after his side’s 0-1 loss to Switzerland at the Abuja National Stadium, Nizzo said: “We did not expect that after two years of work it will be like that. With Japan we played a very good game, Mexico a little bit better but lost today to Switzerland. Our ball possession was good but we suffered a dead ball that complicated our situation.”

He noted that it was unfortunate that his side did not get a goal, saying, “with the period of hard work we’ll not expect to be in this situation but even with that we are going to leave with our head held high. Our expectation was not to be in this situation right now, our mentality was to be in the final, that we are third in the group is not a situation Brazil should be in.”