Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei praised the Super Eagles following his side's 2-1 defeat to Nigeria in an international friendly in Antalya, Turkey on Friday afternoon.

Nigeria take control early, with Moses Simon opening the scoring inside six minutes before Akor Adams scored five minutes into the second half to hand the Super Eagles a comfortable two-goal advantage. 

Iran responded through former Porto and Inter Milan forward Mehdi Taremi, who reduced the deficit in the 67th minute, but it was not enough to prevent defeat.

Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle fielded six players from Europe's big-five leagues in his starting XI, including Maduka Okoye, Alex Iwobi, Ademola Lookman, Samuel Chukwueze, Moses Simon and Akor Adams.

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency after the match, Ghalenoei revealed that he was impressed by the physically imposing Nigerian side, and highlighted the caliber of players at the disposal of Chelle.

"I think this was a very useful preparation game, especially since we were able to implement Plan B in defense against a strong and physical team like Nigeria. Nigeria was a very good team, and all eleven players on this team play in major European leagues such as Spain, Italy, England, France, Greece and Turkey," Ghalenoei said. 

"The national team needs such games. We also tried to use more players. Fortunately, with the new rules and the possibility of making eight substitutions, we had a good opportunity to evaluate different players."

The Super Eagles will conclude their March schedule with a friendly against another World Cup-bound Asian team, Jordan next Tuesday.