BY RAYMOND NWADUBA
Former Super Eagles player, Mutiu Adepoju has praised the team for their impressive 4-0 win against Benin Republic which guaranteed them a playoffs place, insisting that the Eagles can still qualify for the FIFA world cup if they can maintain such performance consistently.
The three – time world cup star, said he has always known the Eagles will come good once they effectively use their wings and deliver good crosses for Victor Osimhen with other strikers to pounce on, since we have tall strikers and Osimhen is very good in the air and aggressive too.
He however warned that the players must not relax but keep up the tempo until they have delivered the 2026 FIFA world cup ticket which he stated is still very possible.
“I want to congratulate every Nigerian and particularly the players for putting up such a blistering performance that got even their opponents stunned.
“I just hope they keep up with the performance and not relax until they qualify for the world cup which is still very possible.
“I have always said it that once the Eagles can use their wings and deliver good crosses for the strikers the team will do better. We have very tall strikers which not feeding them crosses is a disservice.
Speaking on coach Eric Chelle’s tactical approach to the game, Adepoju hailed the gaffer for getting his tactics right.
“I think the coach got his tactics spot on in the game. Not just because the Eagles won, but you could see the Benin side had no answers whatsoever to what befell them.
“The Eagles dominated play from start to finish. It was a masterstroke”, he noted.
Meanwhile, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and Burkina Faso are the four countries that made it to the playoffs. The October FIFA rankings will be used to pair the teams.
According to CAF, the highest ranked team amongst the four teams will face the lowest ranked while the second will meet the third in the semi final. The two winners will clash in the final to produce the single African representative that will further play two more intercontinental games to secure qualification to the 2026 expanded FIFA world cup of 42 teams, to be jointly co-hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico.
