Super Eagles and Olympiacos defender Bruno Onyemaechi has issued a rallying cry to his teammates, emphasizing the need to step up to the plate as they seek to avoid a second consecutive absence at the FIFA World Cup, Footynaija.com reports.
Onyemaechi is a vital member of the current Super Eagles squad that has struggled to achieve desired results in Nigeria’s ongoing quest to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup that will be held across Canada, Mexico and The United States of America.
Nigeria missed out on the last edition of the Mundial back in 2022 and after playing six out of ten rounds of qualifying matches, it appears the Super Eagles are on course to miss out on football’s biggest tournament yet again.
A disappointing record of one win, four draws and one defeat leaves Nigeria in fourth place with just seven points compared to Group C leaders South Africa’s thirteen points haul so far.
Nigeria’s next round of qualifying matches will see them square up against Rwanda and South Africa respectively in two must-win September fixtures and Onyemaechi has issued a rallying cry to the rest of the Super Eagles squad.
What Bruno Onyemaechi said about Nigeria’s World Cup dream
“Talking about the World Cup, we have very important games that we need to win,” Onyemaechi said in an interview with TVC.
“We know it’s difficult but we are professionals, we need to do our job. We know the pressure is there, we need to forget about that and try to win these two games and qualify for the World Cup.
“Nigeria is a big nation, it’s a big shame if we don’t qualify for the World Cup so we will do our best to get the ticket.”
Like Onyemaechi affirmed, Nigeria is one of Africa’s biggest and most storied footballing nations. Certainly, a second consecutive absence at the FIFA World Cup will be heart-wrenching for the country’s millions of football lovers.