Nigeria football legend Segun Odegbami has delivered a withering verdict on the Super Eagles surprising 3-0 defeat by Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday, Soccernet.ng reports.
Odegbami, Nigeria's third all-time highest goalscorer, insists the result was different from previous heavy losses because the Super Eagles failed to show the fighting spirit traditionally associated with Nigerian football.
Nigeria were beaten at the Estádio 24 de Setembro in Bissau on September 29, with Franculino Djú striking in the 15th minute before Mama Baldé doubled the lead in the 66th. Álvaro Djaló completed Guinea-Bissau’s victory in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
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Super Eagles news: Nigeria’s Guinea-Bissau defeat ends 36-year African record – Soccernet NG
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The result left Guinea-Bissau top of Group L with six points from two matches, while Nigeria stayed on three after beating Madagascar 2-1 in Uyo.
Odegbami, a member of Nigeria’s 1980 AFCON-winning side, said he was left ‘speechless' by what he witnessed.
What Odegbami said of Super Eagles' loss in Bissau
“Nigeria was beaten hands down. The team was completely outplayed in all departments. The Super Eagles simply did not show up. They showed no style, no class, no guts, no grit, no spirit,” he wrote in Vanguard.
His sharpest criticism centred on identity. Odegbami accused the team of producing a “caricature of European football” while abandoning the flair, power, speed, athleticism and refusal to surrender that he believes have historically defined Nigeria.
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He added, “They went through the motions of a caricature of European football, abandoning their foundation and motivation as leaders of a Race engrained with the spirit of always fighting, never giving up, fighting till the end with flair, power, speed, and athleticism.
“Even when we sometimes lose, we do so leaving the scars of battle on the football field. But not this time.”
The former winger pointed to two painful defeats that produced radically different reactions. Nigeria recovered from a 5-1 loss to Algeria in the opening game of AFCON 1990, reaching the final before losing 1-0 to the same opponents. Six years later, the Eagles responded to a 4-1 friendly defeat by Togo in Lagos by winning Olympic gold in Atlanta.
Those comebacks form the heart of Odegbami’s warning. He believes the Guinea-Bissau loss exposed more than a bad night, arguing that Nigeria’s football problems are now ‘deep and fundamental'.
Eric Chelle and the Super Eagles have the immediate chance to offer a response when Nigeria face Russia in an international friendly on Tuesday.
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