Franco-Malian coach, Eric Sekou Chelle, seemingly admitted he got his tactics and substitutions wrong in Super Eagles’ disappointing 1-1 draw against the Warriors of Zimbabwe in their Matchday 6 FIFA World Cup 2026 encounter in Uyo on Tuesday.
In what turned out to be a nerve-wrecking tie for Nigerians, Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen headed the Super Eagles in front in the 74th minute but Zimbabwe rescued a point after Tawanda Chirewa slotted past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali from an acute angle in stoppage time.
A crest-fallen Chelle said at his post-match conference that he instructed the Super Eagles to press for more goals rather than defend their lead even after pulling out ace striker Osimhen for Leverkusen’s forward, Victor Boniface..
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“We tried to score many goals, and after we scored, I told my players to continue trying to score another goal,” the 41-year-old Chelle who suffered similar hear-break with Mali at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations when the Eagles surrendered their 71st 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 with two late goals in the 90th and 122nd minutes to the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire , told reporters after the game in Uyo. “We were a little tired. We need ten seconds to analyse this goal because we made a small mistake to concede the goal.
“This is how we conceded against Rwanda here. This goal determined the result of the match.”
Tuesday’s was Chelle’s second game in charge of the Super Eagles after he opened his account with an impressive 2-0 win against Rwanda away in Kigali last Friday.
But he reckoned that there were still some positives from the pulsating 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe, adding he needs time to whip the Super Eagles into a formidable force.
He noted: “My job is to analyse this game, and I think the team improved. The team improved in intensity and aggressivity with the ball. They made fast attacks. They made long possession of the ball. This is football. We’ve seen lots of games like that.
“Maybe I need some time, too; maybe not. But I think we deserved to win this game.”
Yet he slammed the players’ wastefulness in front of the goalpost especially in the first stanza of the ill-fated match.
“Normally, we can score maybe ten goals in the first half,” he further said.“ When we score a goal in the second half, we think that maybe it’s finished. It is tough because my players were the best on the pitch.
“I’m so disappointed for my players and for the country,” he added.
After six round of matches, the Super Eagles are currently fourth with seven points in Group C where they are behind South Africa (13 points); Rwanda (8 points); Benin (8 points) while Lesotho are in fifth position on six points and Zimbabwe in rear position with four points.
