By Wale Mustapha
Nigerian defender Kevin Akpoguma has expressed his disappointment after Hoffenheim’s 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.
Akpoguma, who played the full 90 minutes for the German side, was unable to prevent the home defeat, which has left Hoffenheim in a difficult position.
The centre-back attributed the loss to defensive mistakes, particularly highlighting lapses in communication.
“We beat ourselves today. We communicated too late for the goal that made it 1-0. The goal for 2-0 is also very annoying; that cannot happen to us,” Akpoguma said after the match.
He continued, “We saw that something was possible. We got ourselves into situations, but the finishing wasn’t quite right. It was much better in the second half; we came out well.
“We should’ve just kept going, but we lost our balance in the minutes that followed. That brought Tottenham back into the game.”
The defeat leaves Hoffenheim’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages hanging by a thread. They currently sit 28th in the standings, with just six points from seven games.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
