The Super Eagles of Nigeria are determined to earn a win over the Mambas of Mozambique today in the absence of Victor Osimhen and Kelechi Iheanacho as the team aims to have a positive mindset ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Lesotho and Zimbabwe next month.
Forward Iheanacho, who changed the tenor of the game in their 2-2 draw against Saudi Arabia at the weekend and netted a spectacular second goal against the Green Falcons, will not be available to Coach Jose Peseiro today having left the camp to attend to personal matters.
Also unavailable is Ballon d’Or Dozen-shortlister Osimhen, who is nursing a hamstring injury.
Yet, Peseiro is bullish ahead of the encounter, insisting he has a clutch of forwards who can send packing the southern Africans in their only fifth-ever clash with Nigeria at senior level.
“We will miss Kelechi and Victor, but we have other good players who can make Nigeria proud. I look at the bench and see players who can step up and take their chances.”
The clash with the Mambas is the last gathering for the three-time African champions before the race to the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins, in which they host the Crocodiles of Lesotho and then fly to play Zimbabwe’s Warriors away, all within a few days in November.
In the absence of Iheanacho and Osimhen, Peseiro will have to cast his lot with Terem Moffi, Victor Boniface, Samuel Chukwueze, Sadiq Umar and Moses Simon, and hope that Alex Iwobi comes to the party in his playmaking role to supply ammunition to the forwards.
Defenders Kenneth Omeruo, Jordan Torunarigha and Chidozie Awaziem, and midfielders Frank Onyeka, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Raphael Onyedika did not taste action against the Saudis and could prove to be Peseiro’s aces against the Mambas at the Estádio Municipal de Portimäo.
Nigeria and Mozambique have met four times at senior , with the Super Eagles winning a friendly match in Maputo by a lone goal, before home-and-away 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches that remain fresh in the memory till this day.