Nigeria versus Saudi Arabia: more than a friendly

Follow Us Now!

Nigeria’s Super Eagles will have a friendly bout with Al-Suqour Al-Khodhur (the Green Falcons) at 17:00 West African Time. Here are a few things fans of both countries should keep in mind as they prepare to watch the match.

The Super Eagles recently trashed Sao Tome 6-o after a much anticipated match that followed the reappointment of Coach Jose Peseiro as the team’s coach when his last contract ended. All this took place in the wake of the enthronement of a new manager at Nigeria’s Football Federation (NFF).

Most think the coach has been delivering as much as the public desires in terms of the performance of the players. It is no secret that many fans of the Super Eagles have a handful of reasons to do other things instead of watching their games because of the record the team held in losing very important matches.

But the narrative seems to have changed to a great extent this time, thanks in part to Jose Poseiro’s experience. Yet it is still a fact that the Super Eagles have a lot of bad results trailing them, streaks they should cut off with an arguably respectable number of victories.

Nigeria had a defeat streak of five games recently and have added three to the pile just after a little break. Teams they have overcome might be a lot below the forces they must weather at the upcoming AFCON competition.

Graded to be the 40th best football team in the globe, the Super Eagles still have a long way to go to be able to win some sturdy African teams they will meet at the African Cup of Nations football competition. That is rumoured to be exactly what Coach Jose Poseiro wanted to prepare the team for before the competition that will be watched from around the world.

The Green Falcons are clearly part of the Gulf Kingdom’s efforts to make itself a widely recognised football team. Saudi Arabia has been spending a lot of money on sports, tourism, and entertainment lately.

Saudi Arabia’s Green Falcons before a match with Korea Republic

Saudi Arabia’s prince, Bin Salman, has boldly replied to news outlets that he did not care what they thought about the route Saudi Arabia is taking to fame and the generation of hyperattraction after they accused the kingdom of using sports to draw people while retaining a UN-condemned view of human rights.

Since the Saudi Pro League started featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, an increasing number of both young and new players have been moving over to the kingdom to star in their now agreeably famous league.

There are rumours that superb scorers like Mbappe and Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen might end up signing up with one of the Saudi Pro League’s clubs with any chance they get.

If Saudi Arabia is willing to pay citizens of other countries the amount of money they pay and promise to pay, it would be out of place to assume the kingdom is not working hard inwardly to build great players of their own.

This match that will be held today is more than just a friendly for Saudi Arabia’s FA (SAFF) and their government. Some individuals who believe Nigeria would win the match because of their world ranking might be surprised at the end, since we have seen such things happen before.

So, as Nigeria is trying to see whether her team is fit to deal with the giants on their way to lifting the AFCON Cup, Saudi Arabia will be checking to see the progress they have made in building the kingdom’s dream team. The best result from this match should be a draw, but that is less likely to happen.

Yet, should Nigeria lose to Saudi Arabia or fail to beat the lower-rated team, the possible analysis of the encounter will not be flattering to the Super Eagles. This will be another educative international friendly for the Green Falcons.