By Mark Ogagan
Nigeria ex-international, Muisi Ajao has expressed huge disappointment over Nigeria’s failure to beat South Africa in Tuesday night’s FIFA World Cup Qualifier showdown at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.
The tense Group C encounter ended 1-1 in regulation time, a result that further dampened Nigeria’s flickering hopes of attending next year’s World Cup finals.
South Africa-based Ajao, a legend of leading South African team, Mamelodi Sundowns, analysed the game and observed that the Super Eagles bench failed to do the needful to ensure maximum points against an ‘average’ Bafana Bafana side.
“The South African side, in my opinion, was just average, and I strongly believe Super Eagles could have walked away with victory, but there were some lapses from the coaches, tactically and technically, that prevented that from happening.
“For instance, I observed that a match-rusty Ademola Lookman started and completed the game despite not having featured for his club (Atalanta) since the start of the season. Then of course, scorer of Nigeria’s last goal before Tuesday (Arokodare) was omitted from the starting XI, plus other tactical errors.
“Look, if we are really serious about going to the World Cup, these mistakes must be minimized,” said Ajao, who won six senior international caps for Nigeria.
Bafana Bafana got a deserved lead midway through the opening half when Super Eagles Captain William Troost-Ekong prodded the ball into his own net after a good run by Mohau Nkota on the right.
But Nigeria restored parity on the stroke of half time albeit controversially, when defender Calvin Bassey nodded home powerfully (with the help of an outstretched arm) following Fisayo Dele-Bashiru’s perfect delivery from the right flank.
With only two rounds of matches left to play in the qualifying campaign (all scheduled for October, 2025), South Africa maintained its stronghold at the summit of Group C with 17 points, Benin stays second on 14 points while Nigeria sits in third with 11, followed by Rwanda also on 11; Lesotho is fifth with 8 and Zimbabwe last with 4.
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