It is now claimed that Nigeria were lucky to avoid defeat against a "terrible" Bafana Bafana in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
According to reports in Nigeria, there is now increasing pressure on newly appointed national team coach Finidi George after his side drew 1-1 with South Africa and lost 2-1 to Benin in the match 3 and 4 of the World Cup qualifiers.
The Super Eagles were at home during their first match against Bafana but they failed to make the most of their homeground advantage, as goals by Themba Zwane and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru ensured a stalemate between the two nations.
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The west-African side's shock defeat to Benin has compounded their woes and it being now suggested that George could be given his marching orders as early as September 2024 if things don't improve.
Now, a Nigerian assistant coach in the Dubai second tier, Sylvester Ayere, says the Super Eagles could've even lost to South Africa if Hugo Broos' side converted their chances.
"When you look at the Super Eagles in a holistic view, you will see that the players we have are average players," Ayere told News Central TV. "They are not the kind of players we think we have. They are not like Vinicius or Rodrygo. So the first thing we need to do is… accept our reality.
"In a game as crucial as the World Cup (qualifier), you don't bench your key players.
"What happened to Boniface? You know that this is somebody that can hold on to the ball, is skillful on the ball, he can create chances. He can bring a good linkup play with your midfielders because he loves to come in and collect the ball.
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"I don't want to compare the Super Eagles at the AFCON and the current Super Eagles. 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."
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