Kickoff (Cape Town)
16 August 2008
Ivory Coast coach Gerard Gili watched his highly-rated wards dismantled by a tactically disciplined Nigeria side, and admitted that he had been beaten by a better side who took their chances.
"It was a very close match between two hard working sides. Both teams had a lot of opportunities, but they took their chances and we didn't," Gili said after the game.
"Nigeria are a good side, a mature side and a physical side that wins a lot of battles."
The coach, who guided the senior Ivorian team to a 1-0 victory over the Super Eagles at the Nations Cup early in the year, also pointed to the inexperience of his players as a factor.
"This was our first Olympics and we were a little excited and maybe that caused us to switch off for the goals. Only one of us could go through to the semis - and unfortunately for us it was Nigeria.
"Hopefully, we can qualify for South Africa 2010 and perhaps you might see several of these players in the squad."
Midfielder Emmanuel Kone also pointed to the inexperience.
"It has been a great experience both for myself and all the players. It's my first experience of the Olympics Games, so from now on I'm going to work even harder to make the squad for future events with my team-mates."
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