TheCable

Solomon Dalung, minister of sports, says Nigeria’s 0-2 loss to Serbia on Tuesday exposed key weaknesses in the team.

Dalung said although the defeat was not a surprise, the result would help the coaching crew strengthen the team before the beginning of the World Cup in Russia.

“Whether I am satisfied with the performance of the Super Eagles in view of their last defeat, I am quite confident,” he said.

“The process of qualification was not that very smooth; we must not win every match to be able to say that we are prepared.

“But of course, challenges like the one we have also prepare us for the type of competition we are going to be engaged.

“So what happened with the 2 – 0 (against Serbia) has put us on our toes to go back to the drawing board and then try to look at areas of our weaknesses and strengthen on them.’’

Serbia’s Aleksander Mitrovic scored a brace to end Nigeria’s long unbeaten record in friendlies dating back to 2016.