SCORENigeria unpacks the highlights of the Super Eagles 2-1 loss to Portugal in a friendly played in Leira Wednesday night.
10. Maduka Okoye is the Super Eagles No 1 goalkeeper now on the evidence of his performances against both Poland and Portugal. He pulled off several big saves to make the loss respectable. Stanley Nwabali would have to fight to reclaim the No 1 spot. His Sofascore rating 7.5 points, the highest for a Nigerian player.
🚨 GOAL IN PORTUGAL 🇵🇹
— MR OLAWALE QUADRI 🇳🇬 (@QualityQuadry) June 10, 2026
Poor making from Zaidu.
Maduka Okoye beating again as Portugal 🇵🇹 leads Nigeria🇳🇬 2-1.pic.twitter.com/PyxrtHkMNl
9. The Super Eagles understandably did not create as many chances against the fifth best team in the world, who dominated and should have won by a bigger margin but wastefulness of Cristiano Ronaldo and some saves by Okoye. The gulf in class between the two teams was obvious.
8. The Eagles were not much of a threat going forward and would certainly have done with the presence of both Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman. At such a level of the game, your best players would stand you in good stead.
7. The time has come for Nigeria to go past wingers Samuel Chukwueze and Moses Simon. Femi Azeez, for one, proved this at the recent Unity Cup, while Zadok Yohanna has the potential to also make his way into this squad.
6.Genk youngster Christian Akpan was thrust into the deepend on his debut. He was not out of place, but was not as convincing as the other young rightback, Abdullahi Bewene, who again caught the eye in his second game for the country.
5.The high intensity and pressing game coach Eric Chelle wants his team to play is coming through, but it was also concerning that the team suffered high turnovers particularly around their goal area.
4.Captain Wilfred Ndidi still has the legs and injury permitting, he will be around to lead this exciting new team to success after success after the recent disasters. He posted a 90% pass accuracy, made four recoveries, won an interception and eight duels.
3.Calvin Bassey remains the pillar of the back four. He was not intimidated by the quality of the opposition he faced and so came away with another solid performance for the country.
2. There is a fresh impetus for the Super Eagles going forward after the disaster of missing out on two successive World Cups.
- Hopefully, the Super Eagles have moved on from the disappointment of not qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and the target now is to go on to win a fourth AFCON in East Africa next year.
