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Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has said he is sa for his players and Nigerians following their disappointing 1-1 draw with Warriors of Zimbabwe in Group C in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The Super Eagles once again failed to record a home win in the World Cup qualifiers after the draw with Zimbabwe in Tuesday’s match in Uyo.
Victor Osimhen put the Super Eagles 1-0 ahead on 74 minutes after heading home a cross from Ola Aina.
But in the 90th minute Tawanda Chirewa equalised for Zimbabwe after poor defending by the Super Eagles backline.
After the end of matchday 6 Chelle’s men are still in fourth place on seven points, six points behind leaders South Africa, who defeated Benin Republic 2-0 in Abidjan.
Rwanda occupy second place on eight points, Benin Republic also on eight points are third while Lesotho (six points) and Zimbabwe (four points) are fifth and sixth respectively.
“In the first half we had the chance to score 10 goals, Zimbabwe came to defend, my players were the best on the pitch with possession football and fast attack,” Chelle said in his post-match press conference.
“I’m so disappointed for my players for the country and the way things are now we have to start looking at second place, we deserve to win but this is football.
“I think in the last 10 minutes it was hard for us because we did well in the first half with a lot of intensity so maybe the players were a little tired.
“We tried to score a lot of goals, after our goal I told my players to try to score another goal but like I said maybe they were tired.
“We played a diamond formation and created lots of chances to score goals, this system is tasking and involve lots of energy and this is why we had Ademola on the left and also on the other side.
“After we scored it became difficult for Victor so I made another change and I didn’t want to put a defender and we can say maybe the choice was not good but if we had win we would say the choice was good.”
By James Agberebi in, Uyo
