Another anxious moment is here for the Super Eagles and millions of football-loving Nigerians are urging the team to make maximum use of the opportunity to move two steps ahead of their main rival, the Bafana Bafana of South Africa, in Group C of the 2026 World Cup qualifier.
“We have to seize this opportunity in Uyo to be ahead of Bafana Bafana in our group,” Coach Sylvester Otemu of FC Rooket, a grassroots football team based in Ikorodu, Lagos said in a message to The Guardian, yesterday.
Like many other Nigerians, Otemu believes the visiting South African team is the greatest threat to the Super Eagles qualification to the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be co-hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico.
“If we beat the Bafana Bafana in Uyo, we will be on five points. It will boost our confidence ahead of the tie against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan on Tuesday. That is another tricky tie because I know that Gernot Rohr, our former head coach, who is in charge of Benin Republic will want to win to prove a point that he is better than Coach Finidi George.
“But our boys have to deliver the three points first in Uyo. It is possible to get the six points for Nigeria in these two games. The Super Eagles must approach the game in Uyo with all seriousness and win it for their career, their family, friends and our beloved country Nigeria,” Otemu stated.
Another fan, Moses, who spoke on a radio sports programme monitored by The Guardian, yesterday, said: “Hopefully, I will be in Uyo tomorrow (today) to cheer the team. I want to watch Coach George Finidi dishing out instructions from the sideline. I watched him play for the Super Eagles. He is a World Cup star himself, and he has seen everything in football, having represented Nigeria twice at the World Cup. He made his mark as a player, and I pray as a coach, Finidi will pilot the Super Eagles to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
“We have quality players, and Nigerians want to see how our new star, Ademola Lookman, will tear the Bafana Bafana defence into pieces in Uyo. In the absence of Victor Osimhen, we want to watch Victor Boniface terrorise the South Africans. We want to watch the likes of Calvin Bassey and goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. I pray our Super Eagles players will give us the day.
“They must not disappoint us in Uyo because some of us still remember that sad memory of what happened at that same venue in November 2014, when the Super Eagles played 2-2 with this same South African team in the race to 2015 AFCON. On June 10, 2017, we also lost 0-2 to South Africa in the race to Egypt 2019 AFCON qualifier. I pray we get it right this time,” Moses said.
It will be recalled that the Super Eagles also lost 0-1 Uganda at the same venue in a friendly game in March 2015, and in November 2023, drew 1-1 with Lesotho in the commencement of the 2026 World Cup qualifier. That setback, which has put the team in this tight corner, is what the fans are praying against today.
