Mali punished the Super Eagles for the mistakes they made in a game they enjoyed more of the ball, according to caretaker coach Finidi George.
The Super Eagles fell 2-0 to their Malian namesakes Tuesday night with Bright Osayi-Samuel gifting the fellow West Africans an early goal with his poor backpass.
It was Mali first win over Nigeria in 10 years.
“A few mistakes cost us the match. It was not a bad game, good intensity, we created some chances, but didn’t score,” said Finidi after the encounter in Marrakesh, Morocco.
“It’s a game we made some mistakes and we were punished.
“We committed that blunder and they got their goal and that helped their confidence.
“I was happy with the way the boys played, it is quite positive.”
He added: “We controlled other aspects of the game, we were not outplayed.
“We kept the ball very well, playing two strikers helped us against an aggressive team who were forced to play wide.
“I would have loved a different result, but that was not the case, but the performance of the boys was commendable.”
Finidi led the Eagles to beat Ghana 2-1 in the first friendly also in Marrakesh at the weekend.
