Former Super Eagles star, Etim Esin has noted that there’s nothing special about the current players in the national team.
According to him, the players, including Ademola Lookman, who is the reigning African Footballer of the Year, are all average.
He said this after watching his country play out a disappointing 1-1 draw with South Africa in the 2026 World Cup qualifying game on Tuesday.
Nigeria locked horns with South Africa in a must-win Group C, matchday 8 fixture in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, and all the Super Eagles could settle for was a 1-1 draw.
Nigerian captain, William Troost-Ekong gave the home side the lead through an own goal in the 25th minute.
Fulham defender, Calvin Bassey, ensured the visitors levelled before half-time with a 44th minute superb header.
With the draw, Nigeria’s hopes of going to North America for the World Cup next year further disappeared as they are just on 11 points, six points behind Bafana Bafana.
Esin was disappointed with the result, lamenting the fact that the three-time African champions are on the verge of missing out on another World Cup appearance.
The former international told Complete Sports, “We have average players in the Super Eagles, the team lacks creativity, we have players who cannot confidently take on a player and beat the player one-on-one, nobody can make anything happen.
“It is a sad day for Nigerian football, it is unimaginable that we will miss another World Cup, it’s terrible.”
Nigeria still has a slim chance of making it to the showpiece by beating their next opponents, Lesotho and Benin Republic next month.
Benin Republic are sitting second in the Group C following a 4-0 win over Lesotho on Tuesday.
2026 WCQ: ‘Average players, can’t make anything happen’ – Etim Esin slams Nigerian stars
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