The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has taken a hard stance on Super Eagles forward Cyriel Dessers and captain William Troost-Ekong following Tuesday’s disappointing 1-1 draw with South Africa in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Bloemfontein.
Nigeria, desperate for a win to revive their qualification hopes, suffered an early blow when Ola Aina limped off in the eighth minute. Their woes deepened after Troost-Ekong turned the ball into his own net in the 25th minute, gifting Bafana Bafana the lead.
Though Calvin Bassey powered home a header just before halftime, the Eagles failed to convert second-half dominance into goals, with substitutes Tolu Arokodare, Samuel Chukwueze, and Chrisantus Uche all misfiring.
In its post-match statement, signed by the NFF Director of Communications, Dr Ademola Olajire, the federation reserved stinging words for Dessers:
“Cyriel Dessers, who had an unimpressive game in Uyo where he turned out to be a substitute that was substituted, did not have a better game as he was too slow to latch onto passes, could not win aerial balls and did little in bringing alive the Nigerian attack,” it read.
The NFF also faulted Ekong for his costly own goal:
“The Super Eagles’ fighting spirit was diminished for a period after team captain William Ekong inadvertently swept the ball into his own net in the 25th minute, wrong-footing Stanley Nwabali to give the Bafana the lead and great impetus.”
However, the federation hailed Bassey for dragging the Eagles level:
“Defender Calvin Bassey showed immense fighting spirit and resilience to get Nigeria back into the game with a minute left of the first period, when he ran with the ball upfront. The ball found Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, whose pull-out Bassey met firmly to nod past Ronwen Williams for the leveller.”
But the second-half display drew further condemnation, with the NFF lamenting that, despite dominating possession, the Eagles “delivered little.”
With the draw, Nigeria sit on 11 points from eight games in Group C, while South Africa lead with 17. To stand any chance of qualifying, the Super Eagles must beat Lesotho and Benin Republic in their final fixtures and hope their rivals slip.
