World Cup playoffs : Bayelsa House Committee on Sports Chairman Laments Super Eagles defeat

Chairman of the Bayelsa State House Committee on Sports Hon. Barrister Tare Porri has expressed shock at the inability of the Super Eagles to fly over Leopards of DR Congo in the finals of CAF World Cup 2026 playoffs.

The Super Eagles Sunday night at the
Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan Stadium, Rabat Morocco lost by 3-4 penalties to the Leopards thereby ending the country’s hope of being part of the intercontinental playoffs in Mexico in March next year.

Speaking on the match, Hon. Porri who is the member representing
Ekeremor Constituency 1 described it as a sad day for Nigerian football as it has denied the country back-to- back appearance at the World Cup.

“I’m really sad that Nigeria could not defeat DR Congo and qualify for the last playoffs that will involve six countries from different continents of the World.

“When the Super Eagles got the curtain raiser through Frank Onyeka in the third minutes of play, I thought we’re going to carry the day and even after that goal was cancelled by Meshak Elia after 31 minutes of play, I still believed that Nigeria will beat their opponent.

“But I became skeptical when Victor Osimhen was substituted and the Congolese came out stronger in both the second half and the extra time and then the spot kick where we lost it”, he lamented.

Hon. Porri believes that the absence of Osimhen contributed to the loss and was quick to advise the technical crew to look inwards and get more Osimhens in the team.

He was of the opinion that having lost the chance to be at the 2026 Mundial to be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, the football house must immediately reorganize the team, shift their attention to the forthcoming AFCON and use that to redeem the image of the country’s football.
” There’s no doubt that the image of the country’s football has been battered by the non qualification for the World Cup.

“It’s unfortunate that with 9 slots allocated to Africa by FIFA, a country as big as Nigeria with rich football history will not be part of the biggest football tournament in the World when small countries that are not up to a state in the country like Cape Verde have booked a place at the tournament.
” My advise to the NFF is that they should immediately embark on total reorganization of the team because there are some players who have no business being part of the present Super Eagles.

“The NFF should also use the forthcoming AFCON finals to redeem the image of the country’s football which has been so battered that countries like Benin Republic, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Rwanda are no longer afraid playing Nigeria”, he concluded.