It is too early to make a call on the fate of Group C 2026 World Cup qualifiers, according to former Moroka Swallows goalkeeper Greg Etafia.
Etafia’s remarks come after the Super Eagles of Nigeria dropped four points in a short space of a week.
Nigeria, once a feared powerhouse on the continent, have collected a mere two points out of a possible six in their last two games played recently.
They were held to a 1-1 draw by Lesotho in Nigeria before registering another 1-1 stalemate against Zimbabwe.
Bafana Bafana were also shocked when Rwanda nailed them 2-1 on Tuesday afternoon.
The South Africans are currently sitting on number two on the log, with the Rwandans taking a surprise lead at the top. Other nations in the group are Zimbabwe and Rwanda.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 edition of the World Cup in Qatar and are under pressure to turn things around if they want to feature in the football spectacle which will be organised by the USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026.
Etafia has been part of the Premier Soccer League for more than 20 years. He played for 13 years for Swallows and has been working as a goalkeeper coach since his retirement six years ago.
Currently, he is part of a technical team at TS Galaxy, working with the club’s first team goalkeepers under coach Sead Ramovic.
“Nigeria will come out strong when they are against the wall,” Etafia told Sunday World.
“We have good players, it’s just that the coach is struggling to strike the balance. In football, you cannot invite all the camp.
“You have to know which kind of football will give you the results instead of calling up all the good players and failing to field them. The coach cannot satisfy all the superstars.
“But it is still early for the group to be decided. We [Nigeria] have only played two matches and there are many more matches to be played.
“The Super Eagles still have a massive chance to bounce back and to become serious contenders to qualify for the World Cup.
“There’s no way we can miss two World Cup tournaments in succession, that will be a big problem for Nigerian people. The fans are not happy and if the federation had the money, they would have dismissed the coach already.
“The people are impatient because we have good players playing in Germany, France, Portugal and Italy – so there is no excuse [for the coach to lose games].”
The Super Eagles will now shift their focus to their Africa Cup of Nations preparations before resuming their World Cup qualifiers against Bafana in Nigeria in June 2024.
