Eric Chelle shares what he told Super Eagles players after Osimhen's goal against Zimbabwe

The Super Eagles suffered a blow in their bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup following a 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe in a matchday six clash at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium n Uyo on Tuesday evening.

Despite taking the lead through a trademark header from Victor Osimhen in the 74th minute, the Warriors salvaged a point in stoppage time when Tawanda Chirewa slotted past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali.

The result put a big dent in the spirits of the Super Eagles players as they were expected to win the clash with the Warriors after their impressive victory against Rwanda five days ago, where they played good football.

Although the Super Eagles can still qualify for the World Cup, they are in a dire situation as the three-time African champions are trailing Bafana Bafana by six points with four rounds remaining.

Eric Chelle admitted fatigue played a major role in the Super Eagles' costly mistake that led to the equalizer and revealed the instructions he gave his players after Osimhen opened the scoring.

"We tried to score many goals and after we scored I told my players to continue trying to score another goal," Eric Chelle told reporters at the post-match press conference.

"We were a little tired, we need ten seconds to analyze this goal because we made a small mistake to concede the goal. 

"This is how we conceded against Rwanda here. This goal determined the result of the match."

After six matches in Group C of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Super Eagles are currently sitting fourth in the table with seven points.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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