Sylvester Ayere, First team assistant coach at Dubai second division side Fleetwood United, has blamed Super Eagles coach Finidi George for benching Victor Boniface against South Africa and Benin in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Recall that Nigeria were held to a 1-1 draw against South Africa at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo before losing 2-1 to Benin on Monday.
Reacting to the results, Ayere, in a chat with News Central TV, stated that the former Enyimba coach should have started the Bayer Leverkusen star against South Africa and Benin.
He stated that Boniface would have added more bit in the Eagles’ attack and also create a good linkup play with the midfielders.
Read Also: Sodje: Finidi Not The Right Man To Lead Super Eagles
“In a game as crucial as the World Cup (qualifier), you don’t bench your key players,” Ayere added.
“What happened to Boniface? You know that this is somebody who can hold on to the ball, is skilled on the ball, and can create chances. He can bring a good linkup play with your midfielders because he loves to come in and collect the ball.”
He, however, said that Nigeria can still pick up the 2026 World Cup ticket if the team can win all six of their remaining six games.
“I don’t want to compare the Super Eagles at the AFCON and the current Super Eagles,” coach Ayere noted.
“But when you look at the Super Eagles in the AFCON, in their first game, they were trying to play beautiful football with ball possession.
“But it didn’t work in the first game. What happened? The coach became more strategic and put up a more defensive structure, which gave Nigeria a defensive identity.
“This current Super Eagles does not have a defensive identity.
“We (Nigeria) were very lucky against South Africa because they were just terrible. They had so many chances to score. You could see how many times the defenders went behind the ball to defend. It shows that we don’t have a defensive balance.
“The question is, can we still qualify? Obviously yes. We have six games to go. If we can win all of our games, we will definitely qualify.
But can we win all our games the way we are playing now? It is a capital NO.”
9 Comments
Nigeria government can not afford to pay for a very good coach but can afford to send all the Northern almajari to Mecca at the cost of 90billions Naira and which by my calculation can pay a capable coach for more than eighty years. I regret being a Nigerian.
Omo gbayi abeg!
Otito koro gaani abi be ko lo ri??
Which way you devils ruling this poor country???
Ah!!
God’s judgement is coming o!
Make no mistake – Oju lokan npesi..
No man can escape judgement whether you are Christian, Muslumi or tibile/pagan –
Everything here in this life is temporary, all that money you are stealing and hoarding, you cannot take with you when the Almighty demands his life back from you – After that the REAL LIFE, which lasts forever! will begin and many, huge proportions of people, will be in eternal damnation!
Ha!! brothers and sisters, hear me well, it will not be a walk in the park o! The more you steal and the more children and poor suffer because of your actions, the hotter the place they will put you will be – no relief for ever and ever, hmm think twice o! Think twice now and share it around, try and do good for your country, for your fellow man, for the children, for the widow, for the orphan, for the poor, for the less privileged before it is too late oooo!
Believe me, it is much better and much more worth it to give than to receive!
Don’t say you have not heard it before oo!
Ignorance of the law is NEVER an excuse!
General agbalumo. Go make love to a refrigerator. Pig face.
Ignorant of your bullshit is your excuse. General Zombie.
And what was his impact when he came into the game. Nigeria vs Lesotho that he started what did he do. is Zimbabwe vs Nigeria that he also came in what did he do. Some people are just confused and deluded. This one is seeking NFF attention. That’s how great it is to coach that you ended up in dubai.
Exactly, even when he (Boniface) came in the Benin game what did he do to improve the team? Nigerians, with little or no information, want to be coach at all costs. The coach sees these players in training camp and can assess the match fitness of individual players. Boniface was clearly not match fit and it showed when he was called from the Bench.
COACH IN DUBAI SECOND DIVISION IS BETTER THAN NPFL
A player of high quality like Victor Boniface should start the game for Nigeria under normal circumstances. He deserves to start any game if the manager knows what he was doing. Victor must have felt under-valued the reason why he did not put out a strong effort. Like his teammate, he may not show up again if Finito is still the manager next year. Believe me.
At this stage, we need foreign NFF too, not just foreign Coach. Never seen a body so dumb.