Center back, Costa Nhamoinesu, has said the Warriors showed character in their performances at the Africa Cup Of Nations despite being knocked out in the group stages.

Speaking to Soccer24 on transit, the Sparta Prague defender, contrary to popular perception, said the Warriors were brave against strong giants at AFCON 2017. The Warriors were drawn in group B with Algeria, Senegal, and Tunisia.

“I have to say that the Warriors showed character, we were brave. Considering me, the journey [from the Czech Republic] to go to AFCON and everything that we went through, we managed to get a point out of that and we managed to face the strong giants of football in Africa,” he said.

Nhamoinesu appeared to point to the exhaustive nature and general inconvenience of the trip from the Czech Republic.

The Warriors, who are ranked 30 on FIFA/CAF Africa Rankings, drew 2-2 with Algeria ranked fifth and lost 2-0 to Senegal which is ranked first then lost 4-1 to Tunisia ranked fourth.

Nhamoinesu and his compatriots were criticized for a dismal defensive display which saw the Warriors conceding two goals in 30 minutes against Senegal, and two goals in 22 minutes against Tunisia. Tunisia went on to score two more goals without defensive recompense.

Nhamoinesu, however, would not rate himself for his performance in Gabon.

“ I cannot rate myself, that’s not for me. I’ll leave that to the coaches,” he chuckled.