Moses Simon, the acting captain of the Super Eagles, has emphasised that had there been an impartial arbiter in Oran on Tuesday, the outcome of the team's loss to the Algerian Desert Foxes would have been different.
Terem Moffi of FC Lorient, a forward, gave Nigeria the lead in the ninth minute, but controversial goals from Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City and Yousef Attal gave the Desert Foxes a 2-1 victory.
Ademola Lookman had the ball in the net off Moses Simon's effort before Algeria scored an equaliser in the 41st minute, which would have made the score 2-0 at the time. However, the centre referee missed it, much to the displeasure of the Super Eagles' supporter base.
Speaking to NFF TV, Moses Simon praised the performance of his teammates but blamed the poor officiating for the defeat he opined could have ended in the Eagles favour.
“The game did not go the way we planned it. But it’s part of the job because we learn every day. And I believe we will pick a lot from it,” Simon told NFF Tv.”We all know that the referee did not give us justice. But then the coach said we should forget about it and keep fighting.
“We just need to encourage and motivate ourselves because we play for pride, we play for our family and the Nigerian fans. I believe we did our best but it did not go as planned. We will keep on fighting”, he added.
As the Eagles players return to their respective clubs, they are billed to assemble again for the November 17th International friendly against Portugal.