Stanley Nwabali, the Chippa United goalkeeper, has insisted that South Africa’s Bafana Bafana are not on the same level as the Super Eagles ahead of the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifier.
In a rematch of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations semifinal, the Super Eagles will do battle with South Africa on matchday three of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
South Africa coach Hugo Broos has put together a dream squad consisting mainly of players based in the DStv Premiership, with African giants Mamelodi Sundowns contributing nine players to the roster.
By contrast, Finidi George has handed call-ups to ten players on the books of top-five European League clubs, including Maduka Okoye (Udinese), Calvin Bassey (Fulham), Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester), Frank Onyeka (Brentford), Alex Iwobi (Fulham), Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester), Samuel Chukwueze (AC Milan), Ademola Lookman (Atalanta), Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen) and Terem Moffi (OGC Nice).
Nwabali believes Nigeria have the advantage over South Africa because they have superior players in their ranks.
When asked about the difficulty of the upcoming game against South Africa, Nwabali told Lagos Talks on 91.3 FM : “Football is the same everywhere but I don’t feel with the kind of players we have, we can have any challenge in any game especially in our group. But you cannot predict football.
“Talking about South African players I would say I know them. We have good players in our country too so I’m not talking about those guys, they are good in their own way of playing.
“I’m not talking about them because if we can put ourselves together, they cannot match us.”
The Nigeria verus South Africa match will take place at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Friday, June 7, 2024, starting from 2000 hours.
