Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has urged calm after Nigeria’s 3-0 defeat by Guinea-Bissau, saying one poor performance must not define the team’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
Nigeria struggled to match the Wild Dogs’ intensity at the Estádio 24 de Setembro in Bissau yesterday. Franculino Djú scored in the first half, before Mama Baldé (66th minute) and Alexandre Djalo (90+5) added goals after the break. Guinea-Bissau’s Alfa Semedo was sent off in the 88th minute, but Nigeria could not capitalise.
The loss followed the Eagles’ 2-1 comeback win over Madagascar in their Group L opener. Nigeria have three points from two games, while Guinea-Bissau are top on six after winning both.
Chelle said his players were second best, especially before the break.
“They (guinea Bissau) were more aggressive than us,” he said after the match. “When we tried to play, score and put crosses into their area, they were more aggressive and better organised in the first half.”
He said he had never seen his side perform like that, but insisted there was time to recover. “I am very confident in my team, though today was not good for us. This is the first time I have seen my team like that. We have to move forward,” he said.
Chelle pointed to the four remaining matches, including the return fixture against Guinea-Bissau in Nigeria. “This is not the end. We still have four more games, and a lot of things can happen,” he said. “We hope to make use of the opportunity in the return leg. We have to stay calm.”
Meanwhile, former African Footballer of the Year Victor Ikpeba described the performance as “disappointing” and said the team “didn’t fight”.
“Defensively we were poor everywhere in this game, 90 minutes. We didn’t defend well,” he said. He blamed the failure to press for the goals: “The first goal, they didn’t close up on the striker. The second… we lack closing up on players. So we’re punished.”
“In African football you have to fight, especially when you go away from home… I hope the boys come back and have a good reaction and win their next two games,” Ikpeba said.
He also called for a rethink of team selection. “This over-reliance of these our foreign-born players… we need to have a rethink. There’s something wrong about bringing all those boys all the way from abroad,” he said.
Nigeria next face Tanzania in the November window, then travel to Madagascar before hosting Guinea-Bissau.
