Niger Tornadoes' Reuben Ogbonnaya blames their loss in the Federation Cup final to their inability to train and get acquitted with the CAF approved match balls.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) handed the approved balls to both teams during the warm up sessions for the final and Ogbonnaya disclosed that their lack of prior knowledge of the such development played a huge part in making the showpiece a drab affair.
“It was a hard fought game for us and I must state that we gave a good account of ourselves. Penalties are like lottery and you can’t fathom whom luck will shine on. It was a game both teams created few chances because of the tension attributed with playing a cup final where teams won’t like to make mistakes,” Ogbonnaya told Goal.
“I have to state that the CAF balls did more harm than good to us. The balls were introduced to us during the match up sessions and we were not too familiar with it at all. It was difficult to hold the ball and give passes. We ought to have been informed of the type of match balls they intend using so that we will be used to it.
“It was unfortunate that we lost in the final. We also lost the 2 million naira match bonus they promised us and other things we would have got from the Niger State governor had we won,” he lamented.
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