Today in Portugal, two of the world’s biggest oil producers would clash for the second time in international football; struggling Saudi Arabia will hope to revive their dipping fortunes against a resurgent Nigeria, OLUWAMAYOMIKUN OREKOYA writes.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria will face Saudi Arabia for the second time ever tonight at the Estadio Municipal de Portimao in Portimão, Faro, Portugal.
Their first meeting, a friendly ahead of the 2010 World Cup, ended in a goalless draw at Abuja Stadium. Incidentally, the current Super Eagles head coach, Jose Peseiro, managed the Saudi side on that day.
Current Saudi manager Roberto Mancini is still searching for his first win as Saudi Arabia manager, after an unsuccessful international break last month. The former Manchester City manager left his role as Italy boss after five years in August, in what was something of a shock departure.
The Green Falcons have endured a difficult run of results and are on an abysmal six-game losing streak. The three-time Asian champions impressively defeated Argentina 2-1 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the only team to beat the world champions, but they have lost eight of nine matches since.
Since beating Yemen in their opening Gulf Cup of Nations fixture earlier this year, the Green Falcons have lost all of their subsequent games across all competitions.
Their most recent defeat came at the hands of South Korea in Newcastle on September 12 with Cho Gue-Sung’s first-half strike at St. James’ Park doing all the damage.
Their lack of good fortune has been largely down to Saudi Arabia’s attacking woes, as they have only managed four goals from their most recent six outings heading into today’s contest and the Green Falcons will desperately seek to reverse their fortunes against Nigeria.
Nigeria on its own is enjoying a good run of form after a slow start to life under manager Jose Peseiro. While the year started with defeat to Guinea-Bissau, the Super Eagles have bounced back with three consecutive victories, including one against Sao Tome and Principe last month.
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They thrashed Sao Tome and Principe 6-0 in the AFCON qualifiers last time out. Four players got on the scoresheet, including Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, who scored a hat-trick. Ademola Lookman, Taiwo Awoniyi, and Samuel Chukwueze were the others who found the back of the net in that encounter played at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo.
The Super Eagles would be banking on Victor Osimhen to lead their attack; as the Napoli striker’s treble last time against Equatorial Guinea out took him up to 20 goals for Nigeria, and third in all-time scoring charts for Nigeria. Legends Rashidi Yekini and Segun Odegbami are first and second respectively.
With Taiwo Awoniyi currently sidelined; in-form Bayer Leverkusen hitman Victor Boniface could be in line to make his full international debut after coming off the bench against Sao Tome. The 22-year-old has taken the German Bundesliga by storm since his move from Belgium in the summer, averaging a goal per game and two assists in seven league games so far.
The player to watch for the Green Falcons would be Salem Al-Dawsari. Despite Al Hilal having signed top players from across Europe like Neymar, Malcom and Aleksandar Mitrovic, Al-Dawsari still fares well alongside them. In the Saudi Pro League, the left winger has played 9 games. In those games, the 32-year-old netted six times while also providing an assist. Most notably, his goal gave the Saudi team their famous 2-1 win against Lionel Messi‘s Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup last year.
Following this game, the Super Eagles face Mozambique next week in another friendly as they continue their preparations for next year’s AFCON finals in Cote d’Ivoire.