Super Eagles No 1 goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali has lamented that the team left it too late in their quest to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Nigeria’s chances of qualifying for next year’s Mundial were further lowered this week after they failed to beat home team South Africa in Bloemfontein.
The Super Eagles are now six points adrift of leaders Bafana Bafana with two rounds of matches still to be played.
“We (as a team) should have made more effort to qualify for the World Cup. We left it very late… We have an AFCON to prepare for and I hope we take that very seriously,” Nwabali told journalist Osasu Obayiuwana
“The rest of Africa is coming up and we should not expect easy games on the continent anymore. We must prepare properly if we want to win and qualify for tournaments.”
Nwabali further revealed that he played with an injured ankle in the World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and South Africa.
He also explained his aggressive behaviour before towards the Rwandese players in Uyo.
“Yes, I was not in a good mood during that game because of the way some of the Rwandan players were behaving towards me. I was quite upset about it,” he said.
