Sports
Super Eagles Surprised Home Draw Against Lesotho: A Minor Set Back That doesn’t need Pressing Panic Button
By Micheal Obasi
Nigeria Super Eagles began her 2026 FIFA Qualifying campaign on a rather slow note with a surprised one all home draw against minnows Lesotho at Godswill Akpabio Stadium UYo.
In a game many thought is a free three points for the three times African Champions , the Nigerian team were shocked at home as they forced their opponents to share the points.
The draw has already got tongues wagging on why the team with all her star studded Europe based players could not pummel their opponents who can hardly boast of any significant football history at all levels.
Different kinds of post mortem have started flying around with some calling for the sack of coach Jose Peseiro while some have been very critical of the quality of the players, questioning whether they are even good enough.
It is however very important to note that in as much as it was not the result many Nigerians would have wanted , this is not the time to raise the roof on either the team or the Nigeria Football Federation.
Yes, it was a disappointing result but I can boldly say it is just a temporary setback which the players and their coaching staff are more than capable to turn around very quickly.
On the issue of weather the Coach should be sacked , I personally don’t think we need such campaign or headlines at this point .
Don’t get me wrong , I am personally not a big fan of Jose Peseiro but he has got a job to do and the Nations Cup in January next year will be a perfect place to reassess him after guiding the team to qualification.
With the kind of players at the Country’s disposal , we definitely don’t have any excuse whatever not to beat Lesotho in UYo even without a coach.
No disrespect to Lesotho, but like they say in the local parlance, shoe get size.This is exactly what we should have shown the crocodiles but failed to do so.
But I have watched football enough to also know that these things happen in football sometimes and that is why it is the beautiful game.
I know for a fact the players are already kicking themselves for not starting the Qualifiers with a win at home and cannot wait to move to the next one to bounce back to winning ways.
And I also strongly believe this early upset will and should serve as a wake up call to the team that they will not just get the 2026 World Cup ticket on a platter of Gold and must get very serious with their remaining games and opponents.
As critical as we want to be with the lads , many of them rank among the very best on the continent especially with the Country’s offensive power with the likes of Victor Boniface of Bayern Leverkusen,Victor Osimhen of Napoli, Taiwo Awoniyi of Nothingham Forest, Samuel Chukwueze of AC Milan and Ademola Lookman of Atalanta.
No country on the continent currently boast of a better forward lineup like Nigeria and this alone is a strength we must maximised.
I think this is the sort of solutions Coach Jose Peseiro should be pondering about as Nigerians look forward to how the team will quickly bounce back in their next game against Zimbabwe and subsequent matches.
So I will personally plead that as football fans and pundits we should moderate our criticisms and try to help the team find possible solutions so that we can get the best out of the team.
Written by Micheal Obasi.Sports Affairs Analyst/ Sports Journalist
Sports
Plateau Vipers, Benue Queens Crowned Champions at HFN North Central Division One Tourney
Joel Ajayi
The President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Jibril Seidu, has said the federation will continue to intensify its grassroots talent development drive through zonal competitions across the country.
Seidu stated this on Saturday in Abuja at the finals of the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship, where Plateau Vipers defeated Suleja Shooters 29-24 to emerge champions in the men’s category.
In the women’s final, Benue Queens of Makurdi defeated City Queens of Suleja to claim the title.
The eight-day tournament featured teams from across the North Central Zone, with Plateau Vipers of Jos, Confluence Stars of Lokoja, Unity Boys of Abuja, Suleja Shooters and Nasarawa Ambassadors of Lafia competing in the men’s category.
In the women’s category, Nuela Handball Academy of Ilorin, Inikpi Babes of Idah, Benue Queens of Makurdi and City Queens of Suleja competed for honours.
At the end of the competition, four teams — two male and two female — emerged as the North Central Zone’s representatives for the national Division One league.
According to Seidu, the tournament was organised as part of the federation’s deliberate strategy to take handball development back to the regions and discover talents that might otherwise remain unnoticed.
He said the HFN board, inaugurated on October 25, 2025, resolved that grassroots development was essential to creating a sustainable pipeline of players for national and international competitions.
“All the teams you have seen here are from the North Central Zone of the country, and every state is represented with an academy or state team,” he said.
Seidu explained that the new approach marked a departure from the previous system, where talent identification was largely centred on the federation’s major league competitions.
He said taking competitions to the regions would provide young players with greater opportunities to showcase their abilities while strengthening the foundation of handball across the country.
The HFN president also linked the grassroots initiative to Nigeria’s recent achievements in international handball, stressing the need to develop younger players who can eventually replace members of the current national teams.
He noted that Nigeria had qualified for the 2027 Men’s Junior Handball World Championship in North Macedonia, describing the achievement as evidence of the potential within the country’s handball system.
“How do we replace these players with upcoming players? This is the avenue for us to get players,” he said.
Seidu added that the federation was determined to make handball more visible and accessible, describing it as one of Nigeria’s major sporting disciplines with significant potential for growth.
The North Central tournament is part of a wider zonal programme designed to decentralise handball development across Nigeria.
According to the federation, similar competitions are being organised across other zones, including the South East, North East, North West and South South, with qualifiers from each zone expected to converge at a designated venue for the next stage of the competition.
The federation also appealed for greater support from sponsors, stakeholders and state associations to sustain its grassroots development programme.
It expressed appreciation to the participating states, academies, team sponsors and other stakeholders for their support and commitment to the growth of handball in Nigeria.
The federation said the initiative would provide a platform for discovering the next generation of Nigerian handball stars while expanding the sport’s reach beyond its traditional centres.
While Speaking the elated coach of Benue Queen Godwin Tondo has promised a stronger and more tactical performance after guiding the team to victory at the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship in Abuja.
He attributed the success to the team’s long-term youth development programme, noting that the squad was built through a deliberate process of identifying and nurturing young talents.
According to him, the programme began with the selection of 92 girls from secondary schools, who were subsequently trained and developed over a four-year period.
He said the team’s success was a product of sustained hard work and commitment despite the challenges encountered during preparations for the tournament.
“I feel very pleased being a champion today. The road to this stage was very, very hard, but I am very happy that we have got the result from all the toughness of the game,” he said.
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