By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Still smarting from the disappointment of not qualifying for the expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted by the United States of America (USA), Mexico and Canada last summer, Nigeria’s Super Eagles will return to the pitch again today when they tackle the Barea of Madagascar in Group L Matchday 1 at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state by 5 pm.
Aware of the mood of millions of Nigerian football fans who are angry with the team’s inability to qualify for the biggest global football showpiece the last time out, it is expected that Super Eagles players and officials approach today’s encounter with Madagascar and indeed all the qualifying matches of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tagged PAMOJA 2027 as a Cup final.
This is to avoid a repeat of the 2026 FIFA World Cup African qualifiers misadventure despite playing in what looked like an easy group which had Lesotho, Zimbabwe and South Africa yet Nigeria could not qualify directly from the group and also failed to make it through the African Play-off after being eliminated by DR Congo in Morocco.
The ripple effect of the Super Eagles World Cup failure saw the mass resignation of the former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Executive Committee Members led by Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau and General Secretary Dr. Mohammed Sanusi.
Against this backdrop it will be unpardonable for the Super Eagles to show a lackadaisical attitudes towards PAMOJA 2027 qualifiers and for this reason head coach Eric Sekou Chelle and his wards are condemned to use the Nigeria versus Madagascar tie today to pacify millions of Nigerian football fans for the team’s inability to qualify for the last FIFA World cup finals.
Luckily, coach Chelle and his players have said that they will approach the qualifying games for PAMOJA 2027 as if they were cup finals but it is left to be seen if they march words with action at the end of 90 minutes today in Uyo.
However, the Super Eagles should be wary of the banana peel which Barea of Madagascar can pose as this first of two matches set for the current FIFA international window so that it will not be like the ill-fated 2026 World Cup qualifying series where Nigeria was pitted against minnows, the country is again put in the same group with Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau rated as minnows in African football.
Recall that in the better forgotten 2026 World Cup qualifiers under ex-coach George Finidi, Nigeria played Lesotho and Zimbabwe in its opening games and garnered only two points after two 1-1 draws in Uyo and Kigali, where Zimbabwe adopted as home turf. Those four dropped points played a huge role in Nigeria’s failure to make the 2026 World Cup.
For this reason, Chelle and his players must not allow thunder to strike at the same spot twice just as they will not like to treat any of the three Group L opponents as minnows.
The Franco-Malian gaffer has said that he is looking forward to their first three points of the series, pointing out that his team will not allow the uncertainty of a late struggle that is capable of turning things on their head to prevail again.
Said he: “We have to show everyone from Day One that we want it, and the only way to do that is to go for it with our hearts, and refuse to slow down at any point. We must go for the points without any hesitation”.
Interestingly, Chelle has his work cut out for him with the quality of players available for him to prosecute the first two matches of the campaign against Madagascar and Guinea Bissau. The Eagles fly to Bissau on Sunday for a Day 2 encounter against the Wild Dogs slated for 24 September Stadium on Tuesday, September 29.
Nevertheless, Chelle will have a big headache to choose who will be in goal, with Maduka Okoye, Arthur Okonkwo and Stanley Nwabali rearing to go and it will be the same in the defence, midfield and attack with the return of ace defender Ola Aina and youthful Benjamin Fredricks.
They will compete with Bruno Onyemaechi, Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi and Bright Osayi-Samuel as well as Turkey-based Chibuike Nwaiwu.
Captain Winifred Ndidi, Alexander Iwobi will lead the midfield in the 4-2-3-1 formation that will feature forwards Moses Simon, Ademola Lookman, Akor Adams, Samuel Chukwueze and new invitee George Ilhenikena who is in great form.
In all, Nigeria is good to go on paper but today’s clash with the Barea will stir sad memories of interesting past encounters between the two countries at senior level especially the June 2019 tie when the Barea caused one of the biggest upsets in AFCON history by defeating Nigeria 2-0 in a group phase match in Alexandria.
But it must be remembered that it is the fact that the Eagles had already qualified for the tournament’s Round of 16 before that encounter.
However, at this same stage, 16 years ago, the commencement of an AFCON qualification race, the Super Eagles defeated the Barea 2-0 in Calabar on September 5, 2010. A year later, in the reverse fixture in Antananarivo, the Eagles won by the same margin.
As both teams battle for three crucial points at the beginning of another AFCON ticket race, with the Barea sounding off that they are ready for battle and arriving in Uyo three clear days ahead of the encounter, Super Eagles must be Super today to carry the day.
Already, CAF has picked Chadian referee Alhadji Allaou Mahamat for the Group L game slated to start at 5 pm.
Let’s Go Super Eagles
