Former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Joseph Dosu, on Thursday, said the 1-1 draw against the Crocodiles of Lesotho is like a defeat for Nigeria.
The Eagles forced Lesotho to a draw at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on Thursday as they came from behind in their Group C opener of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Motlomelo Mkhwanazi put the visitors into the lead in the 56th minute of the game, before defender Oluwasemilogo Ajayi equalized for Nigeria, with 23 minutes remaining.
Only the Serie A pair of Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze were missing for the Eagles through injury.
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In an interview after the game, a disappointed Dosu said it was very difficult to process the result.
The Atlanta 1996 Olympic gold medalist in football said nothing should have stopped Nigeria from beating Lesotho.
“We should never have played a draw against Lesotho. It is like a defeat for us and for Lesotho, it is like a win,” Dosu said.
“They will go back to their country with the 1-1 draw. It is a slap on us that Lesotho came to Nigeria and played a draw, we should be beating Lesotho in and out.
“Football is not mathematics they say but we should have beaten Lesotho, this is not the time to rejoice, it is time for Nigerian football to rise.”
Speaking on the performance of Taiwo Awoniyi and Victor Boniface, both of whom started the game in the absence of Osimhen, Dosu said he was disappointed.
The retired goalkeeper stated that the players failed to seize the chance to impress in the Napoli attacker’s absence and also failed to take their chances in the game.
“When you have an opportunity, you grab it. They already had it when Osimhen was not there, they failed to grab it. They had their chances but they did not take it,” he said.
“But we should be happy it is a draw. If it were a defeat, it would have been a disaster. You see them in their clubs week-in, week-out and they score goals and this time around, they could not score for Nigeria.”
Nigeria will travel to Rwanda to face Zimbabwe in the next game of the qualifiers on Sunday.
