The duo of Zaidu Sanusi and Chrisantus Uche have been called up as replacements for Cyriel Dessers and Bright Osayi-Samuel who are both injured.
The replacements was announced on the Super Eagles X handle on Saturday.
Following the injury setback, both Dessers and Osayi-Samuel are out of this month’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin Republic.
There is the possibility that the Super Eagles could be forced to make another replacement after Felix Agu was forced off in Werder Bremen ‘s home game with St. Pauli.
On matchday nine the Super Eagles will take on Lesotho on October 10 in Polokwane, South Africa.
Also Read: 2026 WCQ: Agu Doubtful For Lesotho, Benin Games
Then on Matchday 10, coach Eric Chelle and his side will host Benin Republic on October 14.
Going into the final round of the qualifiers, the Super Eagles are third on 11 points, just three points behind Benin Republic and South Africa who are first and second respectively.
9 Comments
We have what it takes to CHALLENGE STRONGLY and WIN the next AFCON.
We just have to get our tactics right. As I said in a previous post, historically, the foundation for our recent successes has been playing 3 center backs.
A compact formation with 3 CB will land us the next AFCON trophy.
My suggested line up is as follows.
Goalkeeper – Nwabali
CB – Bassey on the left, Ekong in the middle, Fredericks on the right.
3 center backs is the foundation we will build our ambitions on.
Left wing back – Bruno or Sanusi.
Right wing back – Aina or Osayi.
In the absence of Aina and Osayi, I’ll have to go with Alhassan Yusuf for our upcoming WCQ matches.
DM – Ndidi and Akinsanmiro. A double pivot sitting in front of the 3 center backs.
AM – Iwobi, given the freedom to roam the midfield and support the attack. Chukwueze has shown that he can also play this role.
Attack – 2 strikers. Osimhen and Arokodare to start, then second half subs would be Lookman and Durosinmi.
With this squad, the AFCON trophy will be coming to Abuja unfailingly. The trophy is within our grasp. We just have to get our foundation right.
My prediction for match day 9th, Rwanda to defeat Benin, Nigeria beat Lesotho, SA will surely win those mumu zimbabwe but I will prefer them to play at least draw.
God willing it happen as I predicted, then going to match 10th will be open to all 4 top teams, Benin, Rwanda & Nigeria all on 14pts, then if we will Benin in uyo we will be on 17pts and Rwanda beat SA in Rwanda to be on same 17pts, i.e SA, Nigeria & Rwanda we be on 17pts each.
Though I believe SA still have edge over us with goals diff. Super Eagle hope you all see the situation on ground, you all shd report to camp ontime and take this last two matches serious.
Rwanda’s game against South Africa will be staged in South Africa.
Okay, you solve a problem, but another rears its all-too-familiar ugly head.
Injured Osayi-Samuel is replaced, but the lack of a recognisable right full-back persists. Out of interest, I looked up the stats of Tyrone Ebuehi (remember him? the one-time heartthrob of many a Super Eagles fan), and, to my surprise, he has been burning rubber for Empoli in the Italian Serie B this season.
However, as rust is to iron, injury has been to what was once a glittering international career for Ebuehi, eroding his attributes, leaving behind a hollow shell of what he once brought to the table.
But, at 29 years of age, from this shell can still emerge the oyster of rejuvenation, recovery and rebirth. So I will encourage our national team handlers not to overlook him totally as playing regularly in Italy warrants consideration.
Enough on Ebuehi and to the World Cup qualifiers at hand.
I am completely sold on Chelle and will be all too happy for him to stay beyond this World Cup qualification campaign. Let’s be honest, he was never the right man for this sort of rescue mission which his glaring shortcomings in in-game management, team selection and substitution choices have laid bare.
But, due to his appointment, even at this later stage, the points he has garnered have given us a fighting chance if results elsewhere go our way and the Super Eagles players do the business against Lesotho and Benin this October.
Chelle will have to do what he has never done since assuming this Super Eagles manager role: gather 6 points from 2 competitive games. His glass ceiling seems to be 4 points – commendable, but it will not be enough on this occasion – nothing but 6 would break the bank.
Do I think he can do it? Hell No (hahahaha!), that will be misplaced loyalty and a baseless projection laced on faulty analysis that is built on a pie in the sky in the name of foundation.
What I do think is that he will give it a damn good fight and, if mother luck shines on him, and us, the heavens will finally rain the manna of 6 points for him (which might or might still not be enough to qualify, anyway).
But I like this squad.
It now has slack in certain areas. A few of the forwards can function in midfield, there is firepower on the flanks and in centre forward, the centre midfield is solid, and, with the leadership of Ekong and the lungs of Fredricks, the defence should be dialled in.
I have come to appreciate Chelle’s rather unique 4-1-3-2 “strategic constellation” (make I blow grammar small; “formation” would have been a simpler word here). If he gets the team selection right, I think he has the players to make this formation crash out of your TV screen to grab you by the balls with shock, excitement, and org*sm.
I think he needs to be bold and ambitious. And, yeah, ruthless. Drop Ekong to the bench if needs be; bring Lookman as a sub; play Chukwueze in the middle; start Arokodare from the start and haul him off at half-time if he fails to seize the moment; play Olakunle Olusegun from the start; or – for the shocker of all – name Amas Obasogie in goal in the starting line-up.
Do something different, man (ah!)!!!
It is that old saying, isn’t it (that has become a cliche, yet it retains its impact): if you do the same things the same way, you are doomed to achieve the same results, erm, 4 points.
Playing Ekong, Nwabali, Simon et al. have gotten you decent results that, sadly, haven’t just been enough, making the Dr Dreys, Slys and PapaFems of this world ask for your head to dance the horizontal samba with a guillotine cutlass.
To break this 4 points-per-2-games hoodoo, it calls for a radical approach!
What that will be, if Coach Chelle is even capable of orchestrating a strategy to raise the bar of his own outputs, we will have to find out later this week!
Now no natural RB available. I also want to use this opportunity to call on feelers that Ndidi should be reverted to his natural role as a CB because he has no business in the midfield of a team that wants to do progressive play.
Watching him at Besiktas and see how he’s average with the ball and has zero final progressive ball tells why he is repeating the same with the Nigerian national team.
Yaya toure and Thomas party are examples of what DM should be and that is where Uche should be used and groomed or Ebenezer of Pisa who is miles ahead of Ndidi in present form. Let’s revert Ndidi to anchor with Ben fredicks at CB this will be a master stroke. Ndidi’s best years as DM is over.
Correction:
Playing Ekong, Nwabali, Simon et al. have gotten you decent results that, sadly, haven’t just been enough, making the Dr Dreys, Slys and PapaFems of this world ask for your head to dance the “horizontal tango” with a guillotine cutlass.
Really, doing something different will be wonderful.take ndidi off that DM role, will be decent and bold from the coach. Qualification for the WC is a dream nw but is possible.
Picking unreliable and bench warmer Bruno got ahead of reliable and FC porto starter Zaidu shows the level of rot and bias management of the team.
Christantus was awful in the last match and yet to make it at Crystal palace. In the abscence of Fisayo ((2 goals and an assist in 3 starts), one would have expected the coach to solve the creativity problem. Onyeka and Ndidi lacks goals and assists.
Iwobi has failed to score or assist in all the WCQ .
Ekong is a liability, he costed the team 4 points in 2 matches. Sluggish and ball watching against Zimbabwe and own goal against SA.
Nwabali, Frederick, Semi, Bassey, Zaidu, Nvidia, Chukwueze, Lookman, Simon or Iwobi, Osi, Arokodare.
.. Watching his last match against Bournemouth, i think Chukwueze can be deployed (#10).
It’s like it’s now getting more and more obvious that ndidi will be better of and more useful to us as a centre back…
AYUMA from this flying Eagles can come in as an attacking midfielder to join iwobi and Bashiru in that department, AKINSANMIRO will replace ndidi in midfielder while MAIGANA from this flying Eagles can be an option at the right wing forward …AFCON IN. VIEW
Now is the time for chelle to use our deadly 352 since there’s no natural RB for this round of games
PREFERRED STARTING 11 R10 WCQ
GK
1. NWABALI
CBs
BENJAMIN, EKONG, BASSEY
DMFs
ONYEKA, ALHASSAN
AM
IWOBI
WINGERS
LEFT -LOOKMAN RIGHT – CHUKWEZE
FORWARDs
SS – MOFFI.
CF – OSIGOAL