Portugal roundly beat the Super Eagles 4-0 at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon on Thursday night in their final warm up game before heading to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
A brace from Bruno Fernandes in the first half and second half strikes from Goncalo Ramos and Joao Mario, sealed the emphatic win.
Fenerbahce defender Bright Osayi-Samuel made his debut for the Super Eagles as he was named in the starting line-up.
Portugal were without star forward and skipper Cristiano Ronaldo who missed the game due to stomach bug.
Also Read: Live Blogging: Portugal vs Nigeria – International Friendly
The 2016 European Champions will open their 2022 World Cup campaign against Black Stars of Ghana on November 24.
Portugal’s early pressure eventually paid off on 9th minute through Fernandes who finished off a cutback from Diogo Dalot.
In the 15th minute Nuno Mendes almost doubled the lead for Portugal only to see his left foot curler miss the top corner.
Portugal went close again on 19 minutes but Dalot’s dangerous cross evaded everybody inside the box.
Two minutes later Joao Felix attempted a long range effort which just sailed over the bar.
On 25 minutes Joe Aribo found himself inside the box and got to Alex Iwobi’s pass but saw his strike blocked for a corner.
In the 30th minute Moses Simon hit a low shot which Rui Patricio got down well to save.
Fernandes made it 2-0 on 35 minutes from the penalty spot after Osayi-Samuel stopped Bernardo Silva’s cross.
The Manchester United star almost got his hat-trick after running behind the Super Eagles’ defence, rounded Francis Uzoho but saw his effort hit the sidenetting.
Before the start of the second half the Eagles made double change, Samuel Chukwueze and Frank Onyeka replacing Ademola Lookman and Wilfred Ndidi respectively.
Chukwueze’s introduction almost yielded fruit as he raced towards the Portuguese area but was disposed.
On 58 minutes Paul Onuachu came on for the ineffective Terem Moffi.
Also Read: Ghana Send Portugal Warning With Impressive Win Against Switzerland In Friendly Game
In the 61st minute Calvin Bassey sent in a low dangerous cross which was cleared by a Portugal’s defender.
Oghenekaro Etebo also came on in the 69th minute for Aribo.
Chukwueze had the Super Eagles’ best chance on 71 minutes, as he ran on to Iwobi pass beat his marker neatly but saw Patricio stopped his goal bound effort with his outstretched leg for a corner.
Uzoho was called into action few minutes later as he parried a well struck shot away for a corner.
With 15 minutes left Felix received a pass inside the box and hit a low shot which went just wide.
The Eagles had the opportunity to reduce the scoreline on 81 minutes but Emmanuel Dennis penalty was saved.
In the 82nd minute Portugal Ramos made it 3-0 as he just tapped into an empty net.
Mario then made it 4-0 on 84 minutes as he slotted into an empty net following a brilliant flick pass.
By James Agberebi
38 Comments
SE was in shambles today……No top level fitness……no team work….. midfield was virtually absent……and goal scoring is still an issue……SE needs new blood in that midfield…… Midfielders that are ready to run and win the ball always…. Midfielders that can read the game and convert defense into attack swiftly……. Alhassan Yusuf and Raphael Onyedika will bring life into that Midfield……. Central defense needs a little gig too… Bring in Caleb Okoli as Soon as possible to replace Ekong who is not playing top level football again ……. Remember tomori is not entirely lost yet and we should give it a short……..We need a play maker to help iwobi and Aribo as soon as possible…..Eze and Olise will be just fine……. With this little changes SE is good to go against any top level side….For those waiting for top level players born abroad to come and bow beg and even pay to play for a team like this hope your eyes are clear now?……SE needs help and thorough overhaul simple….Any top level footballer of Nigerian origin should be brought in asap no matter where they come from…..home or abroad……..We need to start trying out new things…… That was what I thought Pesiero was brought in to do but am seeing him still hanging onto most of the old guard who can never bring results……. Pesiero is ignoring upcoming talents as instructed by his satanic assistants sorrounding him……Doom is coming if we continue in this path.
A Lackluster performance from the Sup…err Eagles,no cohesion on the ball,no organization off it as well, coach peseiro has a REAL job on his hands and must get to work asap or else the 2024 dream will be dead on arrival.
Instead of you to concentrate on your weak, soggy, non-performing team, you are rather fixated on Ghana Black Stars. You see your level, dis we carry play world cup? Avoid watching Ghana matches henceforth, else your hearts go tear, igo tear ooo!!!!
Lol…I said at least 3-0 and it came to pass. Useless team
Star-struck? Hahahahahaha… They were arguing about Pepe’s jersey,who go collect am
Ha, i thought say na only me see am o….This SE players and the technical crew are a disgrace.
Peseiro and his foreign assistant excluded and also Bright Osayi Samuel
Finidi dragging Pepe Jersey with 1 player like that. Another guy from the Technical dept quickly rush to take picture with Fernandes as if he’s Joe Biden. Even if na Ronaldo self e no suppose reach that level.
BRUNO come dey feel like a semi god no thanks to some of our foolish players and technical crew.
Uzoho dis the most trying to friend zone Bruno as in are you pple mad ? You just lost 4 nil and yet you don’t feel any shame !
Intact my shame really shame SE and Nigeria as a whole tonite.
I started feeling shame for SE since they celebrated bronze medal in Afcon 2019.
If anyone should do Ghanaians again, na Oraimo cold i go wire such person for head. Cuz Ghana still represent Africa better at the World Cup.
Going forward Simon, should be axed from the first 11 likewise Ekong. If Ndidi fail to recover from his injury woes, draft in Alhassan or Onyedika for cover. Onyeka an average player can only try.
To Peseiro please stop using 4-4-2. Our midfielder are just an average player some are even below average so add 1 more body in the midfield to stabilise it. 4-2-3-1 will still be better when we’re playing teams on our level but when playing a better side, i will advise we play 4-5-1.
A 4-3-3 still remains the best formation for the SE cos it gives us greater balance on and off the ball he(peseiro) used a 4-4-1-1 today which meant that Portugal ALWAYS found space in between the lines of pressure but my biggest disappointment was the lack of desire,urgency,heart etc from our boys today is it because it’s a friendly with no world cup motivation that we decided to catch cruise rather than push Portugal infact I think the Portuguese will be disappointed by what we offered tonight.
That was definitely not because it’s a friendly game, I don’t know if you watched our last game with the Ghanaians,they lack motivation, zeal and passion to play for the SE. It was obvious those player are not happy playing for Nigeria as a country. To me I think the SE needs a very good sport psychologist. I watched that match against Ghana and I was in tears to be honest,ike it’s world Cup for goodness sake, who wouldn’t love to be seen at the world Cup tournament let alone being a player but the SE speaks otherwise which is so alarming. I hope Nigeria gets it right before it’s too late.. If am being honest,we are only leaving on past glory. This current SE players are total embarrassment to our football history,I swear.
A Lackluster performance from the Sup…err Eagles,no cohesion on the ball,no organization off it as well, coach peseiro has a REAL job on his hands and must get to work asap or else the 2024 dream will be dead on arrival. And CSN YOU GUYS SHOULD ADDRESS THE ISSUES PLAGUING THIS PLATFORM WITH REGARDS TO THE COMMENTS SECTION
This is so true, the media especially CSN are not helping the SE. You guys are trained to speak the truth even when it seems difficult. The UK media will never cover a true story. The journalist are all we’ve got to at least make things right.
An adage says “ when good man falls 7 times, he shall always rise but the bad ones shall be defeated by trouble” another quote from Awolowo says “There’s no greatness in falling but in each time you rise whenever you fall”
Forumites like Dr Dre, Glory, Ubte or something which I’m suspecting to be Monkey post now, Oakfield, the anti-Odegbami himself, My self and few others kicked against the sacking of Rohr back then but what are we? Ordinary online sport readers.
But Now, after roughly one and half years without Rohr, I prefer not to continue crying about the sacking of Rohr, I’ll rather join people that will be trying to seek for solution(s).
My take,
1) Paseiro should be advised to switch to 4-3-3, even common Sierra Leone dominated us when we used it until we switched to 4-3-3. Because it worked against São Tomé doesn’t mean it will work against others, I’m not sure São Tomé can beat super falcons.
2) We need our best legs. Be Eze, Be Olise, even if Tomori want a change of mind, please, let’s rush him. Typical example is the absence of Osimhen. The game would have been different with him in the line up. Onyedika too need more time in green Jersey, Alhassan Yusuf needs to be invited. Did anybody noticed that our little attack that started well in the second half stopped as soon as Etebo entered? If you are not sure, go and watch again.
3) We still have the likes of Bassey, Akpoguma, Lookman, Iwobi, Chukwueze to praise in this Match. Even Aina needs to sit up for Osay-Samuel but Players like Simon, Aribo, Moffi, are good from the bench. I don’t see them as starters anymore if we really want to compete with top teams in the world.
Conclusion….
The team will still get it right, Algeria was once beaten 3-1 by super Eagles. after that, we’ve lost 3 times against them. So when Nigeria starts performing, I will remind you all.
We just need to keep moving forward.
@Sean, nice writeup but please remove Lookman from that list, he was beyond awful today.
@Golden Child, your are right but I only judge Lookman according to his form for Atalanta. One bad game can’t really write him off.
What crap are you coming here to type. It is not even one year that rorh was dismissed so where is one and the half years coming from. More so what’s so fantastic about him, the least he would have done would park the bus, and we end up with a lethargic game. he had 6 years to assemble a team, are this not his by products, are this not the players he was in europe begging to come play for Nigeria. Oga i beg you if you have nothing sensible to say please save your data, Why can’t the NFF give the local coaches 6 years like there foreign counterparts. All the players that played today were crap simple as that
Proverbs 26:4
To save forumites the stress, Proverbs 24:6 reads;
Proverbs 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
Thanks
Thanks @Maxwell (Great Stream)
Do you know the difference between Nigeria and Portugal? Passing and Movement. The typical Nigerian player will always take more touches on the ball than necessary. The true art of a passing game in football is misdirection. This is what a magician does when he makes you look in one direction so that he can make something disappear.
You see the human mind is slow to regain concentration when it is made to look in one direction and then the opposite. From their passing and movement, Portugal know this while Nigerian players seem not to understand this. How do you implement misdirection in football? It is based on a triangle arrangement where one player passes in one direction to another player who takes only one touch to pass to a third.
Another way of misdirection is to concentrate play in on one side of the pitch and then swing the ball with a long pass to the other. This was how Portugal scored their first goal, while – in the 1st half, none of Bassey, Iwobi or Simon had the sense to switch the ball to the right for Lookman or Bright to progress the attack. Instead, they kept concentrating play on the left, hoping that Simon would dribble through.
The second passing trick is “passing between pillars”, two opposition players approaching a player with the ball act as the pillars, he passes the ball between the ‘pillars’ i.e. between the two players because he knows his team mates would always position themselves to receive the ball between two players. When “passing between pillars” is ingrained into a team the man on the ball will always intuitively know where to pass the ball.
In this match, Ekong is too slow and slows down the game, so that it becomes a game of back passing. I thought his experience would be useful in organising the defence, the problem is that he thinks because he is captain that his task is to dictate the rhythm of the game to his own slow pace.
Aribo is not a midfielder, I don’t know what he is but in midfield he does not have the range of passes, he does not distribute the ball, he is not a ball winner and rarely carries the ball into the opposition half. He plays short passes in the centre of the pitch that are most often back passes.
Simon would be a better player if he inverted, that is if he stopped positioning himself on the touchline and moved more towards the centre to allow the fullback to overlap. In my view the way Simon plays on the wings is a waste of his talent.
This match was worse than the Algeria match and of course the Sao Tome and Principe match and a return to the Eguavoen era and the two players absent for those two matches Aribo and Ekong were the negative difference.
Chukwueze is in my view a selfish player that takes more touches on the ball than necessary. He had two opportunities, the first was stamped out because of his lack of urgency in not passing the ball with one touch, the second was when he found himself in on goal with just the keeper to beat, and could have laid the ball for Onuachu to score.
Bright played well and was probably our best player, Bassey played okay – the problem I have with Bassey is that he thinks he is more skilful on the ball than he actually is, this causes him to make mistakes which can be deadly (as Ajax found out). Akpoguma was also competent.
I can’t even remember Ndidi on the pitch, and the way the Portuguese midfield players dominated especially in the 1st half was an indictment on his performance. Iwobi tried, but I felt Aribo was just getting in his way. Lookman and Moffi received very little service so I can’t blame them for their performance.
Tactics and selection was the coach’s doing, so I’m blaming the coach for this shameful result. Who told him to invite Dennis? There are certain players whose selfish attitudes can ruin a team, the coach chose a lot of selfish players in his squad. I hopeb he learns from this, but if I see Ekong and Aribo in his starting line I’m not going to bother watching.
This coach has no clue of his team. He also lacks tactics and techniques of the game of football therefore he cannot take us to anywhere.
No wonder he is called one-in-ten (one victory in ten matches). A coach that has never finished a season with all the clubs and national teams he has coached. Five games, Five losses!
Our team had never been in this bad situation, not even with the worst local coach.
This is embarrassing, shameful and disgraceful. A team without Ronaldo!
Haabaaa with all our stars available. This is unthinkable! Unimaginable!
NFF need to do something before it’s too late.
Until some fans learn to tone down the high expectations they place on these players, they will continue to be sorely disappointed and frustrated. So much hype on majority of players whose shortcomings are covered up by the tactically disciplined players in their various clubs. As soon as they get together, they get exposed.
Tha last truly world-class team that Nigeria had, was the 1994 team.
And guess what, Mr. Augustine Eguavoen was a key member of that team from start to finish.
As the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, England expects everyone to do his duty, thank God, I have done mine.” Mr. Eguavoen can hold his head high having served his country well from the 1988 Olympics to the 1992 and 1994 Nations Cup where he captained the team to win The Cup for Nigeria and to our first ever-World Cup qualification and participation where he was present all-through.
It is now left for his restive critics to list their contributions to the development of Nigeria.
Hahahaha…as if to rub salt to injury…LMAOooo
FIFA order NFF to pay Rohr in dollars
scorenigeria.com.ng/fifa-order-nff-to-pay-rohr-in-dollars/
In case y’all missed it. Lmmmaooo.
I’m sure the next correspondence NFF will receive from FIFA will also be to pay Peserio is $75000 per month 6 months owed salaries…..LMAOoo
Rohr will be siting in his room in some 5 star hotel in Qatar now, siping from his tumbler filled with scotch on ice, receiving his $45000 bank alert and watching the same team he was using to stand toe to toe with the likes of Brazil, Argentina, England, Ukraine, Poland etc losing 4-0 to Portugal with one shot on target the whole game.
Disappointing day for Nigerians. WHICH KAIN WOTOWOTO BE DIS NA?
Anyway, we will bounce back. We just need to do things right.
Last week, our team Q against a world cup team. This week, we’re playing a world cup favorite on their home turf! Haba! We like suffering sha!
Some thought process needs to occur before we accept to play friendlies. Not every war is worth fighting.
Lightweight boxer that wants to spar with heavy weight, no be wotowoto em dey find so?
Additionally, we need a paradigm shift in our way of playing. The traditional Nigerian way is gung-ho. Adventurous, without much regard for caution. Attack, attack, attack. It works great against inferior teams, but doesn’t work when we meet well drilled, defensively organized sides. We need to strike a balance between our adventurous nature and a cautious, pragmatic approach. If we had been more cautious against Italy in 1994, we would have qualified for the quarter final. And that SE team could very well have made it to the final, and then anything could have happened. Instead of managing the game, we kept attacking Italy, leaving gaps behind for Baggio and company to exploit, and we paid a heavy price.
Ghana have the same problem, but in the opposite direction. They are solid defensively, but not adventurous enough going forward. Which is why their trophy cabinet has been empty for so long. They had no business losing that quarter final against Uruguay. But allowed Uruguay to come back, and win a game that Ghana should have bagged.
Traditionally, a solid defensive strategy usually trumps an attacking strategy, which is why we continue to struggle against Ghana and other good defensive sides. We’ve got to do things differently.
Mental fortitude, discipline, and caution must balance out our adventurous, attacking nature.
One of the biggest things Pese can add to this team is game management. With good game management, an inferior side can compete well with a superior side. Without good game management, everything goes helter skelter. The last 2 Portugal goals today had no business in our net, with proper game management.
@Pompei, you’re spot-on in your analysis.
Remember, Augustine Eguavoen gave us a big advantage in that round of 16 clash when he got Gianfranco Zola sent off. It was momentary loss of concentration at the back that cost us in that game, so often the downfall of most African teams at international tournaments.
The home-based team of Mr. Yusuf was impressive even in defeat last week.
Amazing confidence on the ball and good ball distribution.
You are economical with the truth @ Tony, you forgot to mention that it was Eguavoen who cost us the match but committing a needless foul in the box for the penalty against us. Selective amnesia abi?
This is a textbook DEFINITION OF WOTWOTWOFICATION haha
This guys are not hungry for success, they play with no passion even in competitive games. We need hungry players Asap that’s what drives the likes of Senegal, Cameroon and the north Africans, passion.
For me, one of the best examples of game management was set by Cameroon against Argentina in the 1990 world cup. That game is a reference point for any team that wants to learn how to manage a game against a superior side.
Thank God players like Saka, Tomori,Dele, Berkly, Tammy, Musiala, Akanji, Alaba, took the right decisions to not play for a crab country like Nigeria. No serious minded foreign born players would in their right mind will choose to play for this mis fit country. No wonders those foreign born players who have chosen to play for play with less commitment. the only player that played his heart for Nigeria was Victor Moses .
It is finished
Loool.
My man, don’t lose hope, ehn? E go better one day.
WOTWOTWOFICATION haha
This is the textbook definition of WOTWOTWOFICATION
Ghana ll avenge our lil bros lol
This Nigeria team na mens fellowship for methodist or Presbyterian Church. Hahahahaha.
Super Eagle of Nigeria …at one time not too far ago, QUALIFY for World Cup to be hosted by Russia from a group consisting of African top national team.
Then played Argentina in a friendly and beat them scoring 4 goals and conceding 2 goals.
They also played a 1-1 draw with Brazil in a friendly match.
Both matches were top rated FIFA friendlies.
The coach back was then was a certain German – GERNOT ROHR ❤️!!!
…”WHEN YOU BRING INSECT-INFECTED DRY WOODS INTO YOUR HUT, EXPECT ALL KINDS OF CRAWLING REPTILES AS VISITORS!!! “…
♂️♂️♂️♂️♂️♂️
”…..WHEN YOU BRING INSECT-INFECTED DRY WOODS INTO YOUR HUT, EXPECT ALL KINDS OF CRAWLING REPTILES AS VISITORS….!!!
Words of Wisdom……..!!!
Thank you so much for that quote Sir
The problem of Nigerian football started the moment CSN allowed insect-infected brains onboard this platform.
WHAT IS THE BUSINESS JOE ARIBO(a chicken legs player) DOING UPFRONT WHEN WE HAVE BETTER STRIKERS ON BENCH THAT ARE DOING WELL IN THEIR RESPECTIVE CLUBS
The loss of that penalty by Emmanuel Dennis disrupted the rhythm of the game, which led loss of concentration, and the result was to 2 goals. imagine if we had scored that penalty, the match will have ended 2:1 in favour of Portugal or a draw. Emmanuel Dennis was told to give the penalty to Onuachu, but out of stubbornness he insisted he was going to play it now see the result.
It is the reward of corruption and backward thinking by Dare, pinnick and the all-wise segun odegbami. Please let us swallow our pride and bring back Rhor
Dennis need to stop this irrational behaviour of his if he wants his career to blossom to some extent. I think he has a personality disorder and he needs to see a Psychiatrist urgently to give him some form of treatment.
The guy forcefully grab the ball and headed for the penalty spot, Onuachu tried to take it from him but my stupid guy just held t it firmly. Even Ekong still tried talking to him but he stood his ground. So @Francis no be coach allow him but he stubbornly grabbed the ball. Dennis is really a bad vibe in this team I swear, that why my coach ROHR never like him but you guys thought ROHR was being mischievous……………..una eyes don clear