There’s no way we can miss two World Cup tournaments in succession, that will be a big problem for Nigerian people. The fans are not happy and if the federation had the money, they would have dismissed the coach already.
Ali Elias
Speaking to the Sunday World, Etafia, who kept the posts for Lobi Stars, and presently a goalkeeper coach with TS Galaxy, a South African club, was positive that Nigeria would qualify for the 2026 World Cup. He said “Nigeria will come out strong when they are against the wall”
“We have good players; it’s just that the coach is struggling to strike the balance. In football, you cannot invite all the camp.
“You have to know which kind of football will give you the results instead of calling up all the good players and failing to field them. The coach cannot satisfy all the superstars.
“But it is still early for the group to be decided. We [Nigeria] have only played two matches and there are many more matches to be played.
“The Super Eagles still have a massive chance to bounce back and to become serious contenders to qualify for the World Cup.
“There’s no way we can miss two World Cup tournaments in succession, that will be a big problem for Nigerian people. The fans are not happy and if the federation had the money, they would have dismissed the coach already.
“The people are impatient because we have good players playing in Germany, France, Portugal and Italy – so there is no excuse [for the coach to lose games]”.
With the shocking 2-0 defeat handed over to South Africa by Rwanda, the hopes of Nigeria qualifying for the 2026 World Cup has been revived. As many have noted, it would be tragic for the nation to miss two World Cup competitions in a row, given Its array of talents.