Eric Chelle says Guinea-Bissau can expect a taste of their own medicine when the reverse fixture comes around, after a difficult pitch and oppressive heat played a part in Nigeria’s 3-0 defeat in Bissau on Tuesday.
Goals from Franculino Dju, Mama Balde and Alvaro Djalo condemned the Super Eagles to a heavy loss at the Estadio Nacional 24 de Setembro, just three days after Nigeria had opened their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign with a 2-1 comeback win over Madagascar in Uyo. The result leaves Nigeria on three points from two games in Group L, with Guinea-Bissau top on six.
Speaking afterward, Chelle didn’t shy away from giving Guinea-Bissau credit, while also flagging just how unfamiliar his side found the conditions.
They were more aggressive than us, they were better than us,” he said.
“Though this is not an excuse, they know their pitch and usually play on it. For us, it was the first time, and the pitch was very, very bad. The weather was very hot too.”
He pointed to that lack of intensity as the difference in a game Nigeria never really got a foothold in.
Guinea-Bissau entered the game more motivated and more aggressive. They put in more intensity and we never found the solution,” Chelle said.
It was Chelle’s closing comments that carried the real sting, hinting that Nigeria will make things better when Guinea-Bissau travel to Uyo for the return fixture.
After that, Guinea-Bissau will come to Nigeria, and we have to put them in the same conditions that we experienced in Guinea-Bissau,” he said.
With only one qualifying spot in Group L up for grabs alongside co-hosts Tanzania, Chelle doesn’t have much margin left for creative gambles.
Nigeria’s next assignment is a friendly against Russia in Nizhny Novgorod on October 6, before a Group L double-header against Tanzania in November. Guinea-Bissau aren’t due in Uyo until later in the qualifying calendar.
