Nigeria lost 1-2 to Uruguay.

Nigeria had the upper hand in ball possession, had 14 shots on goal to Uruguay’s nine, but still lost 1-2 to the South American champions forcing their Head Coach, Oscar Tabarez, to describe the Super Eagles as pride to football.

Speaking at a post match conference, the veteran coach hailed the tenacity of the Nigerians, adding that the game could have gone either way, but his side had a little bit of more experience.

“Since the draw we knew that this was the huge match to play,” Tabarez said. “We have taken a huge step toward the semi-finals but we’re not there yet.”

Now looking a bit frail, Tabarez cut the picture of a man who was relieved that the game against the African champions finally came to an end.

With qualification for the World Cup increasingly looking out of reach, Tabarez will be glad to make up with a good performance in Brazil to win the Confederations Cup; a trophy still missing in the trophy cabinet of the El seleccionador.

Uruguay, who lost to Spain in their opening game, take on Tahiti in their final match of Group B on Sunday in Recife with a slight advantage of making the semi final ahead of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

On his part, Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, also said he was happy with the output of his players on the night against the South American champions despite going down to a 2-1 defeat.

Keshi said that his team is gradually gelling into a unit while the Uruguay squad have been together for more than six years.