Nigeria, currently ranked 35th in the FIFA rankings, which has the strongest attacking team in Africa, was defeated at home by Guinea-Bissau, ranked 118th.

On the 25th (Korean time) at the Abuja National Stadium in Abuja, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, who played the 3rd leg of the 2023 Côte d’Ivoire Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, won 1-0 against Nigeria. Guinea-Bissau took the top spot in the group with two wins and one draw. Nigeria suffered its first defeat after two consecutive wins and was pushed back to second place in the group. It’s still too early to say it’s a crisis because up to 2nd out of 4 teams in each group can pass the preliminary round, but it’s clear that it’s a surprise.

The two teams have only played once in the last 10 years, with Nigeria winning last year’s match. Guinea-Bissau is a small country with a population of about 1.6 million located on the west coast of Africa. Although he has never been active in the finals of major competitions, he has recently participated in the finals of the Nations Cup for the third time in a row.

Guinea-Bissau’s main striker Mama Balde, who scored that day, is a big league level striker who has scored 10 goals for Troyes in French Ligue 1 this season, but it is not comparable to Nigeria. Guinea-Bissau’s second-line offensive resources are mostly players from Arab countries or countries belonging to Asia, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

Nigeria, on the other hand, has one of the world’s most notable strikers, Victor Osimen, playing full-time. Osimen is a star striker who is considered to be the leading player along with Korean defender Kim Min-jae in Naples, Italy. In addition to Osimen, the top scorer in Serie A, Nigeria also started Ademola Lukman (Atalanta), who ranked 4th in score. Samuel Chukouze (Villarreal) and Kelechi Ihenacho (Leicester City), who supported the attack, are also famous players in the big leagues, and most positions such as midfielders Alex Iwobi (Everton) and Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City) are It has the highest competitiveness in Africa. 메이저사이트

Nigeria is an African powerhouse that dominated the 1990s by winning the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, advancing to the round of 16 at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, and winning the 1994 Nations Cup. It has not been able to maintain its prestige steadily into the 21st century. It showed its power briefly by winning the 2013 Nations Cup and advancing to the round of 16 in the 2014 World Cup, but not recently. At the 2021 Nations Cup, they only made it to the round of 16, and the 2022 World Cup did not even qualify.

It is the task of Osimen and other players to end the dark period of the national team that failed to save a brilliant member, but after losing the first game after the World Cup, which they only watched, the new start was postponed to the next game. The two countries will have a rematch on the 28th at their home in Guinea-Bissau.