Tag: Super Eagles

The Ambassador of Federal Republic of Nigeria to Portugal, His Excellency Alex E. Kefas on Tuesday hosted the Nigeria contingent to the international friendly matches against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique in Portugal, saying that the team’s victory over Mozambique in their second game has created a winning mentality that must be sustained in upcoming matches and championships.

Speaking while hosting the delegation of players and their officials, as well as the NFF President, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, Executive Committee member Alhaji Sharif Rabiu Inuwa and NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, Ambassador Kefas lauded the leadership qualities of Alhaji Gusau and charged him to consolidate efforts to ensure the Eagles keep winning.

“We want a Super Eagles’ team that will, once more, be the joy of all Nigerians at home and abroad. Nigerians love their football and they love their National Teams, and I charge you to start winning the major trophies to make us all happy.

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“The leadership qualities of the NFF President, Alhaji Gusau, are not in doubt. I know he has what it takes to ensure the Eagles keep winning, beginning with the Africa Cup and the ticket to the FIFA World Cup.”

Also at the reception were Ambassador Kefas’ wife, some players of the Super Eagles, technical and backroom staff of the Eagles and staff of the embassy.

With few weeks to the commencement of the race to 2026 FIFA World Cup finals, the Super Eagles won their first friendly match in 55 months, defeating Mozambique 3-2 in Portimao on Monday to underscore that their ‘Let’s Do It Again’ mantra for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals is no fluke.

In an earlier game on Friday, Saudi Arabia’s Green Falcons netted a last-minute equalizer to tie 2-2 with the Super Eagles at the same venue.

Former Nigeria International and a member of the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)- winning Green Eagles, Kadiri Ikhana said it would be wrong to judge the readiness of the Super Eagles ahead of the forthcoming 2023 AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, adding it would be wrong to write off the coach Jose Peseiro-led side on account of recent performances.

Ikhana who made history as the first Nigerian coach to win the CAF Champions League Trophy with Enyimba in 2003, said recent international friendly matches against Saudi Arabia (2-2) and Mozambique (3-2) , only offered the coaching crew the opportunities to fine-tune the national team towards the delayed AFCON in January as well as the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers in November.

“ We are preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations and all these friendly matches are just for the coaches to be able to look at all the players and we cannot begin to talk about changing the coaching crew now,” the erstwhile Super Falcons hinted in an interview with Brila FM.

“ You can’t judge a coach with friendly matches rather you judge a coach with a tournament.

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“ Friendly matches are meant for the adjustment of the team ; and to perfect the squad as such we cannot judge the team ( Super Eagles) now.

“ The coaches are seeing the loopholes from the goalkeeping and defensive positions . Let’s allow the team to make these adjustments so that by the time they are rounding off their preparations, we can begin to talk about the team for the Nations Cup .”

Speaking in the same vein, another former Nigeria international , Godwin Okpara believed the Super Eagles would be ready for the continental battle in January if players are picked based on match fitness.

“Let the selection of the players be on merit,” Okpara counselled.

“ But he’s ( Jose Peseiro) is being sentimental about it and we haven’t get the right people in there but let’s leave our fingers crossed and see what is going to happen,” added the former Aalst defender.

The Super Eagles are determined to earn a win over the Mambas of Mozambique today in the absence of Victor Osimhen and Kelechi Iheanacho as the team aims to have a positive mindset ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Lesotho and Zimbabwe next month.

Forward Iheanacho, who changed the tenor of the game in their 2-2 draw against Saudi Arabia at the weekend and netted a spectacular second goal against the Green Falcons, will not be available to Coach Jose Peseiro today having left the camp to attend to personal matters.

Also unavailable is Ballon d’Or Dozen-shortlister Osimhen, who is nursing a hamstring injury.

Yet, Peseiro is bullish ahead of the encounter, insisting he has a clutch of forwards who can send packing the southern Africans in their only fifth-ever clash with Nigeria at senior level.

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“We will miss Kelechi and Victor, but we have other good players who can make Nigeria proud. I look at the bench and see players who can step up and take their chances.”

The clash with the Mambas is the last gathering for the three-time African champions before the race to the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins, in which they host the Crocodiles of Lesotho and then fly to play Zimbabwe’s Warriors away, all within a few days in November.

In the absence of Iheanacho and Osimhen, Peseiro will have to cast his lot with Terem Moffi, Victor Boniface, Samuel Chukwueze, Sadiq Umar and Moses Simon, and hope that Alex Iwobi comes to the party in his playmaking role to supply ammunition to the forwards.

Defenders Kenneth Omeruo, Jordan Torunarigha and Chidozie Awaziem, and midfielders Frank Onyeka, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Raphael Onyedika did not taste action against the Saudis and could prove to be Peseiro’s aces against the Mambas at the Estádio Municipal de Portimäo.

Nigeria and Mozambique have met four times at senior , with the Super Eagles winning a friendly match in Maputo by a lone goal, before home-and-away 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches that remain fresh in the memory till this day.

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.

Despite spanking Sao Tome and Principe 6-0 in a final 2023 AFCON qualifier earlier this month, the Super Eagles have dropped a place to 40th in the world and sixth in Africa.

This month, the Super Eagles concluded their qualifying campaign to the 2023 AFCON with a comfortable 6-0 trouncing of Sao Tome in Uyo to win Group A with 15 points.

Surprise 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco are the best ranked African side in 13th position, while world champions Argentina remain the best team in the world.

France, Brazil, England and Belgium complete the top 5 teams globally.

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In a related development, The Super Eagles could face defending champions Senegal, 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco or hosts Cote d’Ivoire in the first round of the 2023 AFCON after they were not named among the top seeds for next month’s draw.

According to CAF, the Super Eagles are in Pot 2 alongside Cameroon, Mali, DR Congo, Burkina Faso and Ghana.

The top seeds in Pot 1 are Senegal, Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt.

Pot 3 has South Africa, Cape Verde, Guinea, Zambia, Equatorial Guinea and Mauritania, while Pot 4 has Guinea Bissau, Namibia, Mozambique, Angola, Gambia and Tanzania.

The draw in Cote d’Ivoire is on October 12.while the tournament itself will be in January 2024.

Former Nigeria international  Garba Lawal has disclosed that the Super Eagles  would surely move up the FIFA Monthly ranking if they get to play more competitive games.

The Eagles slid to 40th  in the current ranking released yesterday which was a place lower than they were in the previous two months when they were 39th. They last occupied the same position as they were now in April this year.

The Eagles thrashed Sao Tome and Principe 6-0 who are 188th  ranked in the world at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo and it didn’t count much for them when FIFA released the ranking yesterday.

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Lawal who was part of Super Eagles squad to the France 1998 and  Korea-Japan 2002 FIFA World Cups, said the team should concentrate on playing more games to improve in the monthly ranking.

“What was their position last month? Are they not in almost the same spot? They need to play more friendly games and other Competitive games. If they do, they will improve in the FIFA ranking,” Lawal told our correspondent. “They played against Sao Tome and Principe who are in the bottom rank in the world. Can FIFA reckon with that? It will be hard.

He implores the Nigeria Football Federation to ensure they organise more games for the senior national team while applauding the decision of the football house to announce Saudi Arabia as the team’s next opponents in a friendly game next month.

The Super Eagles are through to next year’s Africa Cup of Nations slated for Cote d’Ivoire  while they will begin FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in November in Uyo.

• Osimhen grabs hat-trick as  Awoniyi, Lookman, Chukwueze shine 

Ballon d’Or nominee Victor Osimhen netted a hat-trick that took his tally to 10 in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, and also ensured Nigeria finished as group winners in the race to Cote d’Ivoire.

Having drubbed their opponents 10-0 in both teams’ first encounter in the Moroccan city of Agadir in June 2022, the Eagles, who had already qualified for the finals no matter the scoreline, were in no danger on the lush turf of Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.

They expectedly started on the front foot, in front of a capacity crowd of 30,000 spectators, but Semi Ajayi’s firm header off a corner kick by Kelechi Iheanacho in the second minute was punched away by goalkeeper Ronaldo Silva.

Silva was by far the busiest of the two goalies on the night, and had to be alert and active four minutes later as England-based forward Taiwo Awoniyi turned and struck a fierce one inside the box. He would however, have no answer when Osimhen, with seven goals in five previous qualifying matches, rose above the defence to head in from close range off a corner kick by Ademola Lookman.

Awoniyi’s header missed narrowly three minutes later, but the visiting goal-tender again had to pick the ball from his net in the 27th  minute when Lookman received a pass from on-field captain Wilfred Ndidi and sashayed past two defenders before tucking it past the goalie for Nigeria’s second of the evening.

Seven minutes into the second half, Awoniyi had the crowd on his feet when he chested a flick by Iheanacho and blasted past Silva from close range.

Everything was on a roll and Osimhen scored his ninth goal of the qualifying campaign in the 70th  minute, when he won and converted a penalty kick with Silva sent the wrong way.

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With 10 minutes left, the goal king did his Ballon d’Or nomination no harm with a third goal after a flowing move that had substitute Samuel Chukwueze and Awoniyi contributing.

There was still time for Chukwueze to score a sixth, with five minutes left, after he was picked out by fellow substitute Victor Boniface on the left side of the visitors’ defence.

Osimhen deservedly won MTN’s Most Valuable Player of the Match award and pocketed the sum of N1 million naira, while Lookman was selected the Man of the Match and picked up a cheque for N1 million from Nigerian Breweries PLC.

Next up for the Super Eagles is a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Lesotho’s Crocodiles also in Uyo on 17 November.

Sao Tome and Principe captain Luis Leal has boasted that they are in Nigeria to avenge Super Eagles thrashing in Morocco. “We are here to thrash and humiliate the Super Eagles,” he said while speaking from Uyo, the venue of the Africa Nations Cup (AFCON) qualifier.

The minnows have yet to win in the qualifying tournament.

Nigeria also created a new record of highest international win by thumping the islanders 10-0 in Morocco last year.

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However, Sao Tome are doing everything to win Sunday as they have listed only overseas-based pros for this encounter.

“We are here to thrash and humiliate the Super Eagles of Nigeria in Uyo,” boasted the much-traveled striker Leal, who scored a historic brace for his country against Sierra Leone in April. This is our World Cup final,” he added.