‘Too slow, diminished fighting spirit’: NFF blames Dessers, Troost-Ekong for Super Eagles’ draw with South Africa

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has blamed Cyriel Dessers and captain William Troost-Ekong following the Super Eagles’ disappointing 1-1 draw against South Africa in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles, who played against Bafana Bafana of South Africa on Tuesday in Bloemfontein, came into the game needing all three points to stand a chance of qualifying for the tournament according to earlier report by 9jaReporters.

But they conceded in the 25th minute, after Troost-Ekong slid the ball into his own net.

However, Nigeria levelled just before the break, thanks to Calvin Bassey’s powerful header.

In a post-match statement from the NFF Director of Communications, Dr Ademola Olajire, Dessers, who was withdrawn at half-time, was hung out to dry.

Cyriel Dessers, who had an unimpressive game in Uyo where he turned out to be a substitute that was substituted, did not have a better game as he was too slow to latch onto passes, could not win aerial balls, and did little in bringing alive the Nigerian attack,” the federation said.

The NFF also faulted Ekong for his own goal, which temporarily deflated the team’s spirit.

“The Super Eagles’ fighting spirit was diminished for a period after team captain William Ekong inadvertently swept the ball into his own net in the 25th minute, wrong-footing Stanley Nwabali to give the Bafana the lead and great impetus,” the statement noted.

However, the federation lauded Bassey for his determination to drag Nigeria back into the contest.

“Defender Calvin Bassey showed immense fighting spirit and resilience to get Nigeria back into the game with a minute left of the first period, when he ran with the ball upfront. The ball found Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, whose pull-out Bassey met firmly to nod past Ronwen Williams for the leveller,” it added.

Despite that, the NFF lamented the Eagles’ second-half performance, criticising their lack of cutting edge in front of goal.

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With the draw, Nigeria sit on 11 points from eight matches in Group C, six adrift of leaders South Africa. The Eagles now face a near-impossible task beat Lesotho and Benin Republic and pray rivals stumble  to keep faint hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup in North America alive.