By Saidu Abubakar
The Nigeria’s Pillar of Sports, Chief Donatus Agu-Ejidike (JP) has lamented Super Eagles’ loss of concentration in a crucial moment in the matchday-6 of the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers match at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Tuesday.
He described it as a major setback in the country’s quest to make up for lost ground in the race which saw them pegged on the 4th position with 7 points, after 6 rounds of matches.
The Nnewi-born business mogul who spoke with journalist in his Ilorin office on Wednesday said the possibility of Nigeria not qualifying for the World Cup would be a very bitter pill to swallow for football fans in Nigeria.
The Super Eagles trail the group leaders, Bafana Bafana of South Africa with 6 points which is a massive mountain to climb, if the current form of the Nigerian team is anything to go by.
Ejidike decried some poor game-management tactics of the team saying, rather than trying to defend the slim lead which came in the 74th minute through Victor Osimhen, Nigerian team were looking for more goals, introducing an attacker instead of defender. Meanwhile, the Warriors of Zimbabwe is a team that has developed a reputation for sitting back, soaking pressure, and trying to hit, on a counter. They consistently demonstrated that up to the moment Osimhen gave Nigeria the lead, but our team failed to take heed of that, and we paid dearly for it. And the Warriors pounced on one of those moments of loss of concentration, scoring the equaliser in the 90th minute.
With the chances of Nigeria making it to World Cup getting slimmer by the day, Agu-Ejidike who also doubles as the patron of the Nigerian Football Supporters Club (NFSC), stated that, it will take more than luck for the team to finish top of the group table. He however express optimism that, if results from other fixtures go in favour of Nigeria, provided Nigeria does not further drop points needlessly, the team will be on the plane to USA, Mexico and Canada, come 2026.
The sports philanthropist also admonished the NFF and the Technical Department to give the coach a free hand to invite players that he deems fit for the interpretation and implementation of his playing philosophy, so that the Malien can take responsibility for whatever be the outcome, at the end of the day.
He said, while he does not belive in the rumour making the rounds that some Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) officials do influence players invitation and selection, he advised the Football-governing body officials not to be doing anything that would lend credence to such insinuation.
He added that, Nigerians may not easily forgive whoever is responsible, should the country miss out of the World Cup for the second time in a row. It would be recalled that, Nigeria lost to Ghana on away goal rule, the last time out, thereby missing out on Qatar 2022.
Nigeria would be participating in their 7th World Cup, if they eventual make it, having made their debut in the United States of America, in 1994.
Ejidike had earlier commended the Eagles for the 2-0 win against Rwanda in Kigali, asking them to sustain the tempo, as they go into the remaining matches in the qualifying series. But with this latest setback, the task of qualifying might be a pipe dream.