GUINEA-BISSAU head coach Baciro Cande has aimed a cheeky dig at the Super Eagles after his side produced a stunning win over their more accomplished opponents.
Conde’s side stunned Nigeria 1-0 in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium yesterday, with Mama Samba Balde scoring the only goal of the match.
Despite the presence of the likes of Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman, Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze, Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi and Everton’s Alex Iwobi, the Eagles could not lay a glove on the Djurtus side made up of players from mostly second-tier clubs in Europe.
“This victory is for our people. We respect all the Nigerian players, but big names don’t play football on the pitch,” Cande said during his post-match interview.
“They tried to do everything to beat us and created many scoring chances, but we deserved to win.”
The result took Guinea-Bissau — ranked 118th by FIFA, 83 spots below Nigeria — past the Super Eagles to top spot in qualifying Group A.
“We are very happy about the victory and the boys did a very good job. The result is very important for us and the people of Guinea-Bissau,” the Djurtus coach added.
“We are surprised, but the team trained very hard and then beat Nigeria, a big football country with good players. We feel good about this victory against Nigeria.”
The teams will clash again on Monday in Bissau, and Conde is confident his side can prevail again.
Yesterday was the second time ever the two teams would meet, with the Super Eagles winning the first match-up 2-0 in the group stages of the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon.
