Former Nigerian international Mutiu Adepoju has revealed that the Super Eagles struggled in the 1-1 draw against South Africa on Tuesday due to the condition and quality of the pitch.
The matchday eight qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup between both sides was played at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Tuesday evening.
The Stadium which is sometimes used for footballing actions is originally used by South African rugby club Toyota Cheetahs, who participate in professional rugby.
The Super Eagles qualification hopes suffered a major setback with the result, as they remain six points behind the hosts with only two rounds of matches remaining.
“I am not really happy with the kind of pitch that was used for this big game of this nature. As you can see, the Super Eagles players are really struggling to cope with it because it’s a bumpy pitch”, Adepoju said.
Nigerian captain William Troost-Ekong scored an unfortunate own goal, slicing the ball into his own net after a cross by South Africa’s winger Mohau Nkota in the 25th minute.
The Super Eagles, who lost Ola Aina to injury early in the match, equalized in the 44th minute when Calvin Bassey headed in from a Dele-Bashiru’s cross. They were fortunate to be awarded the goal as the ball went in off the defender’s hand.
Wilfried Ndidi went off injured for Nigeria again in the second half and with no further goal action, the match ended in a draw.
“The players tried their best to cope with the nature of the pitch, and it’s so unfortunate that Nigeria could only play a 1-1 draw against South Africa”, he added.
Both sides head into the next round of fixtures in October with South Africa in pole position, while Nigeria face an uphill battle to qualify.
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