Former Nigeria international Moses Kpakor has said the Super Eagles game against Zimbabwe on Sunday is a must win after their shock home draw against Lesotho.
The Eagles kicked off their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier with a 1-1 draw with Lesotho inside the Godswill Akpabio International stadium on Thursday.
A Semi Ajayi 67 minutes header helped the Super Eagles avoid defeat to Lesotho.
Also Read: 2026 WCQ: Zimbabwe Players Shelve Strike, Return To Training Ahead Super Eagles Clash
In an interview with Completesports.com the 1990 AFCON silver medal winner lamented said:”I greatly looked at the statistics and it showed that we did not play well. I think when you are playing a team that you have no idea of it’s strengths and whatever it can be dicey.
“So I think it’s a surprise but we should not lose hope. I think Moses (Simon) would have come much earlier than he did so he can make a reasonable impact. I think in the return leg our players would know what to do better.
“I think we have always had good games against Zimbabwe. But as we keep saying football is growing. There is no small country in the world of football. If you look at the qualifiers worldwide you’ll see those surprises. I saw that Brazil were defeated, I saw that Argentina lost.
“The next game is a must win if we don’t want a repeat of what happened the last time against Ghana. So we don’t need to struggle with goal advantage, head to head or whatever rule. All the players need to take the match against Zimbabwe seriously.”
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi has returned to England after picking up a groin injury in the encounter.
By Toju Sote
7 Comments
The problem with this eagle is that dey don’t hear tale by moonlight story from the oldies.
Dey are all base abroad.
The storey of the tortoise and other animals. Maybe dey red animal in the farm .no no .
The story of how other animals want to make elephant king . probably paceiro too didn’t hear that in Portugal.
Not to talk of how lion hosted the other animals with a party after he lion notice all the animals are angry with him .but the tortoise decided to hold on for a while before going to the party ..that is y it is only the tortoise that is readily available in the village market this days .
To cut long story short. Eagles need to study their opponent on the field , allow them to breathe too to have easy access to their backside to win the game. Even body is not machine. If dey continue bombardment of the enemy territory some people wil gang up to fight back.
So to make elephant king u set up trap for for dem (Zimbabwe) to fall inside.
Na so .
When do we read more constructive advice from Nigeria’s ex-players, other than the boring “there are no more minnows”
@Ako Amadi, the matter tire me ooo
I BELIEVE THAT BY NOW, PASEIRO SHOULD HAVE LEARN HIS LESSONS FOR ERRORS HE WAS MAKING IN INVITING WRONG PLAYERS { inviting benchwarmer, inconsistent , irrelevant players (IZOHO,ARIBO, SADIQ ), carried away with club performance alone (AWONIYI), and using EGO, SENIORITY & EXPERIENCE without fitness ( OMERUO)}. FOR PLAYERS INVITATIONS
** TAIWO AWONIYI IS NOT ALWAYS BE CONVINCING WHEN PLAYING FOR NATIONAL TEAM, WE ARE ONLY BE DECEIVED & CARRIED AWAY WITH CLUBS PERFORMANCE.
THE POTENTIALITY OF CYRIEL DESSERS AND CHUBA AKPOM (BOTH FORMER TOP SCORER IN RESPECTIVE CLUBS) IS FAR FAR BETTER THAN AWONIYI AND SADIQ UMAR
@TALK UR OWN, God bless you for saying that. I have said the same, but somehow, someone attacked me wrongly on this forum few days ago. But now they see what we are seeing kę.
How we have Dessers and Akpom, but the gaffer opted for Awoniyi, and Sodiq is what
I don’t understand.
Uzoho and Okoye that have nothing to offer the team are getting invited while Nwabali and the new home based goalie that with the Super Eagles at the moment and others are being neglected. That is Naija for us all.
Amaju Pinnick is responsible for what is happening in the Super Eagles, and he has to be probed for what he has done in the past.
As I said earlier, I do not expect anything from Oga Paseiro and the current NFF members period. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Thank you @TALK YOUR OWN. I too recommend this swap at this time. Awoniyi may still get space later. He doesn’t get the quality of midfield and support striker support as in his club, hence the struggle. And Nigeria doesn’t really have a coach at the moment to work that out.
Besides I can bet this coach never studied Lesotho as the opponents did in detail. In June, NFF had a chance to offload this mismatch Pinnick dumped on us, but no they negotiated a pay cut with him. Which quality professional takes a pay cut for the same role!!!???
Indeed it’s a must win for the Eagles, but comes at a price.The same warriors of Zimbabwe are desperate for the same result too and will battle it without psychological pressure of being favourites and home supporters and media.Some of the new players want to permanently secure their places in the new team by doing the unthinkable against Nigeria. Empty stadiums produce real football.