The Nigerian Super Eagles suffered a heavy loss to World Cup-bound team Portugal in an international friendly that took place at the Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon.
Nigeria lost 4-0 against the dominant Portuguese team. Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes scored a brace in the first half and second-half goals from Goncalo Ramos and Joao Mario.
Nigeria had a chance to reduce the deficit in the second half through a penalty, however Nottingham Forest striker Emmanuel Dennis missed the penalty.
The reaction of the Super Eagles to the embarrassing loss
After the hard defeat, the coach of the Super Eagles, José Peseiro said:
- “Losing 4-0 was too much, we didn’t start the first half well, we didn’t show good organization and we didn’t put pressure on our opponents. It is true that the rival has too much quality but as I said the first half was not good but the second half was much better.
- “I think in the second half we showed that we can do better, we missed a penalty and we conceded two more goals. We must improve because we want to win the next Afcon”.
Is Peseiro the right man for the job?
The loss to Portugal is one of the biggest defeats for the Super Eagles in years. For this reason, the fans are calling for the dismissal of the coach who, coincidentally, is Portuguese.
During the match, the Super Águilas players seemed to be struggling at some point with the Portuguese coach’s tactics.
The Portuguese coach has only been in charge of the team for five months, and has taken charge of seven games. Of the seven games, he had guided the Super Eagles to two wins and five losses. The two wins came in the Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying, where we won against Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe, while the losses came in friendly matches.
A high-ranking official of the NFF said the following about Peseiro’s future as Nigeria manager:
- “He just started and we have to be patient with him. He has also won two important games, that is, the qualifiers for the Nations Cup. Friendlies are just friendlies, and we’ll judge that in the qualifiers.”
What’s next for the Super Eagles?
The Nigerian Super Eagles failed to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup when they lost the World Cup qualifiers on away goals against the Ghana national team. The qualifier was played over two legs, Nigeria played out a goalless draw in the first leg away from home, while drawing 1–1 against Ghana at home. The only goal scored by Ghana clinched the ticket to the World Cup under the away goal rules.
After Portugal’s defeat in an international friendly, the next competition for the Super Eagles is the Africa Cup of Nations, which will take place in March 2023.