Mexico friendly: I can’t blame Ekong for own goal -Peseiro

Newly-employed Super Eagles head coach, Jose Peseiro, has exonerated William Troost-Ekong, from blame after scoring own goal which made Nigeria to lose 1-2 to El Tri of Mexico at the weekend in a friendly.

It was the first match to be played by the Super Eagles under Peseiro following his appointment earlier this month.

Mexico shot into the lead at the AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, USA, in the first half through Santiago Gimenez while Feyenoord star Cyriel Dessers equalised in the 53rd minute with a header, before Ekong’s blunder two minutes later in a bid to clear a cross earned the South Americans victory.

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“I will not blame Ekong or any player for the loss. I take the responsibility of whatever happened to the team as the coach.

“Because Ekong scored one goal does not mean he is a bad player, he did well for the team. Every player in the world makes mistakes and that is not the end. He will come back stronger.

“Every time people want players who committed error to be singled out for a loss, it is not like that for me. It’s a team game and errors can happen to any player,” the Portuguese tactician told journalists after the game.