• Djurtus focused ahead of clash
Following Nigeria’s shocking 1-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match played at the Moshood Abiola National on Friday, Super Eagles defender, Bright Osayi-Samuel has pleaded with fans not to give up on the team ahead of the return leg, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Mama Balde’s 29th-minute goal condemned the Super Eagles to a 0-1 defeat and took the Wild Dogs top of the table with seven points in Group A.
The three-time Africa champions kicked off their quest for a place in Ivory Coast in June 2022, when they managed a 2-1 home win over Sierra Leone before a 10-0 dismantling of Sao Tome and Principe in Morocco.
However, Friday’s defeat against the Djurtus was a new low for Nigeria and Jose Peseiro, who so far has been underwhelming since taking over the Eagles job May last year.
The 25-year-old defender who has been impressive for his Turkish side Fenerbahçe made his debut in November 2022, when Nigeria lost 4-0 to Portugal in a friendly, featuring for 90 minutes at right-back and was named the Eagles best player of the night after a solid performance.
The Eagles Sunday flew out to Guinea-Bissau for the second game of the double-header against the Djurtus at the Estadio 24 de Setembro in Bissau on Monday (today).
The Okija-born defender is however optimistic that the players will give a good account of themselves and back the Eagles to win the match.
“Nigerians should keep believing in us, we had so many chances but could not take them and I think if we put up the same performance and convert our chances we can win the game,” Osayi-Samuel told PUNCH Sports Extra.
“The team is a very young squad with talented players and I think it’s just the first time I played the AFCON qualifiers with the team and we had so much connection.
“So, if we can keep playing together as a team and have our chemistry together, we will build that foundation of how good we can be and start to show other countries how good we are.”
Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro has attributed Nigeria’s 1-0 defeat to the Djurtusito bad luck.
He claimed the team did very well by creating scoring chances and noting that it was a bad day for the Eagles.
“We missed many scoring opportunities in the match. We could have played an extra one hour and not still have scored, “ Peseiro told PUNCH Sports Extra
“This happens in football, but I am not happy that my team did not win the match, but they tried. It was a bad day for us and good luck for Guinea Bissau.
“We could have scored up to five goals in the game, but we were unable to score one, this happens in football.
Nigeria with six points will be aiming for a win to reclaim the lead in Group A.
Head coach of Guinea-Bissau, Baciro Cande has vowed to keep the team focused ahead of the return leg fixture in Bissau on Monday(today).
“I will keep the team in focus ahead of the return leg and we will see what the best strategy is to adopt for the next game.
“I can’t really speak about the strategy we deployed in today’s (Friday) match because we have another game against the Eagles.”
Candé, who has led the Djurtus an impressive seven points, is confident that the Djurtus will complete a double over Nigeria when they both clash in a reverse fixture at the Estadio 24 de Setembro in Bissau on Monday.
