Nigeria’s former national team coach, Jo Bonfrere, has joined in slamming the Super Eagles for their latest slump in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, and declared ‘it’s absolutely unbelievable’ that Guinea-Bissau could defeat them 3-0.
Sports247 reports that Bonfrere, a veteran football tactician from the Netherlands, who led Nigeria to win gold at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA, and won silver with the Eagles as co-hosts of AFCON 2000 in Lagos, added that Tuesday’s loss was shameful.
Bonfrere, who is now 80 years old, also ruled out inferences that the Eagles lost the game because the pitch at 24 September Stadium in Bissau was bad, stressing that determination and the will to win would have made a difference for them.
While recalling a similar experience the Eagles faced and overcame during his time in charge, Bonfrere lamented that Nigerian football is experiencing a worrying decline and urged the team’s current coach, Eric Sekou Chelle, to launch a revival of fortune.
He firmly submitted, “It’s absolutely unbelievable that Guinea-Bissau could defeat the Super Eagles 3-0. Nigeria losing 3-0 to Guinea-Bissau? That’s shameful and very disappointing. It shows how low Nigerian football has fallen.
“We once played against Eritrea in Asmara on April 9, 2000, and got a draw, despite the bad pitch and weather. You trained on the pitch before the game. When the pitch is bad, when the weather is bad, you change tactics. That’s the work of the coach.”
Sports247 reports further that it’s left to be seen how Chelle will react to the latest wake-up call handed him by an achiever in the game, as he gets set to line the squad out for an international friendly away to Russia on Tuesday.
