Eagles attack Bafana with the help of Iheanacho

The Eagles attack Bafana with the help of Iheanacho, Lookman, and Boniface.

Nigeria will take on South Africa in the 2026 FIFA World Cup African qualification series Day 3 match on Friday night at Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo,

keen to put up their best effort and seek for all three points.

The Super Eagles are aware that only victory will console the fervent football fans in Nigeria, who are still miffed about their slow start to the season—two points out of a possible six in their first two games—and

a recent spate of late camp arrivals, some of which may be due to player tardiness.

Due to injuries to defenders William Troost-Ekong (this year’s AFCON MVP), Kenneth Omeruo, Jamilu Collins, and Zaidu Sanusi, as well as the absence of Africa Player of the Year Victor Osimhen, head coach

Finidi George will have to settle for back-row duty against the AFCON bronze medallists.

In his first competitive game as Nigeria’s manager, Finidi is probably going to start young players Victor Boniface and Ademola Lookman alongside seasoned player Kelechi Iheanacho in an attempt to score

goals as soon as possible on a field where the Eagles have only lost one competitive game since it opened ten years ago.

That one competitive loss, incidentally, came against Bafana on June 10, 2017, the first day of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. However, the Eagles bounced back during the campaign, finishing ahead

of Bafana to earn a spot in the finals in Egypt, where they would go on to win a third place match against Bafana in the quarterfinals.

The 2-2 draw with the Eagles at the same field on November 19, 2014, which kept Nigeria from making it to the 2015 AFCON, may also be considered a victory for the South Africans.

Wilfred Ndidi, the captain, stated on Thursday that the three-time African champions will give it their all on Friday night. Nevertheless, the Eagles are always one to rise above monsters of the past and do their thing.

“No one needs to point out to us how poorly we launched the campaign. We now have the chance to control our own destiny and become

formidable competitors in our pool. We will have the appropriate frame of mind going into today, Friday.

Lookman, who helped Atalanta win the European Cup in Dublin on May 22 and became just the sixth person in history to score a hat-trick in a European Cup final, is in excellent form to carry on where he left

off following the AFCON, where he scored three vital goals to lead Nigeria to a second-place finish. Three months earlier, in a friendly in Morocco, he also scored a crucial goal for the Eagles against Ghana,

helping Nigeria win its first match against Ghana in eighteen years.

With Bayer Leverkusen, Boniface won the German League and Cup double, and he also had an incredible season, making it to the Europa Cup final—where Lookman proved to be a significant challenge.

Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi, the midfield enforcer, are fired up after helping their English team, Leicester City, return to the Premiership following a single Championship season.

The Eagles will take the field on Friday night knowing that South Africa has generally outperformed them and that

Nigeria prevailed in a penalty shootout during their most recent meeting, which took place in the AFCON semi-final in Ivory Coast.