The Super Eagles of Nigeria settled for a 1-1 draw against South Africa last month…
Super Eagles forward Samuel Chukwueze has blamed the team’s failure to defeat South Africa last month on the quality of the pitch, Soccernet.ng reports.
Last month, Nigeria suffered another dent on their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup after a 1-1 draw against South Africa, in what was an fiery clash.
Just like most African countries, South Africa employed dark antics to ensure they got a result.
The South African FA chose the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein for the game. This pitch, as revealed by Soccernet.ng was actually a rugby pitch, but was converted to a football pitch because of that game even though South Africa had other top-notch options.
The quality of the playing surface looked really bad on the eye, and the Super Eagles players evidently struggled.
Ola Aina was the biggest casualty, as he suffered a hamstring injury which will keep him out of action until later November or Early December.
Nigeria play Lesotho today, but it will be played in South Africa, as Lesotho don’t have a Stadium that meets the standards for hosting World Cup Qualifiers.
The game will be played at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, and it has one of the best turfs in South Africa.
During the team’s training session on Thursday, Super Eagles forward Chukwueze and Victor Osimhen were having a conversation about the stadium, and the former expressed his satisfaction with the quality of the turf at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.
He also asserted that they could have scored three goals at least against the Bafana Bafana last month if the playing surface was good.
“See this pitch, but they took us to Bloemfontein. If we played here against South Africa and we didn’t score them like three, call me bastard,” Chukwueze said.
Osimhen then replied, “If we played them here, we would have beaten them.”
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The Super Eagles Have No Excuse Now, They Have To Beat Lesotho Well
Samuel Chukwueze’s excuse for the draw against South Africa last month was the Stadium. But now, they will play on one of the best turfs on the continent, so there is no excuse.
Lesotho are downright minnows. In fact, they are 108 places below the Super Eagles in the FIFA rankings.
The last time both countries met in Nigeria, they stole a draw. Now, the Super Eagles have to beat them and beat them well.
News broke on Thursday that Nigeria could sneak in as one of the best second-placed teams. But only emphatic wins in their next two games against Lesotho and Benin will put them in a good position.
