FC Porto left back Zaidu Sanusi who was by far one of the most impressive players for Nigeria in the 0-1 loss to Algeria on Friday has opened up on playing against Riyad Mahrez.
The 22 year old was handed his international debut by coach of the Nigerian team in Friday’s friendly game with the coach putting him up against Algeria’s dangerman Mahrez.
Zaidu responded with a solid showing restricting the Manchester City forward to playing wide away from the goal of Nigeria hence denying him the chance to have a clear sight at the goal of Nigeria.
The coach of the Algerian team Djamel Belmadi substituted Mahrez one hour into the game and after the game he was forced to defend his poor showing against the little known Nigerian.
Speaking on his performance, Zaidu said it’s nothing really special to him as he will face more players of the qualities of Mahrez in the future. He said it’s one of the games where he played to the instructions of the coach.
“ Before the game I have an idea of what to expect from him. So that helped a lot in keeping him in check. I really don’t see it as something special because I will face players of his quality in the future. Secondly I played to the instructions of the coaches. It helped to listen to them”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.
