Stephen Keshi conceded that Spain deserved to beat Nigeria on Sunday night, but that perhaps the scoreline wasn’t a completely fair reflection.
The Africa Cup of Nations’ holders lost 3-0 in Fortaleza in the final Confederations Cup Group B round, but only after wasting a number of goalscoring chances themselves.
“Spain were better, they have been together for a long time and it showed on the pitch,” Keshi commented post-match.
“We are in a learning process and we have to keep growing hereafter. This Confederations helped us to see the professionalism of the teams and the Coaches.
“It has served our development and has educated us. We return home with better knowledge.
“Against Spain I believe there was a lot of fear and anxiety at the moment that we got to the goal-line. We created opportunities, but did not take them.
“It is what we need to improve on and hopefully we can do so quickly.
“The 3-0 score does not match the game that was played.
“I cannot say whether Spain or Brazil is favourite to win the title. Football can be favourable to Italy too. At this level you cannot say there is a favourite.”
