‘It’s embarrassing’ – Ex-Nigeria star slams Super Eagles for celebrating Bafana sanctions

Bafana Bafana’s pain has turned into joy for their rivals but a former Nigerian international is not happy that his country is among those celebrating South Africa’s misery.

Hugo Broos’ men suffered a massive setback when they were docked three points following a decision from the FIFA Disciplinary Chamber which acted on South Africa’s negligence by fielding an ineligible player in their World Cup qualifier against Lesotho in March.

Bafana Bafana fielded midfielder Teboho Mokoena in their match against Lesotho on March 21, when he was supposed to be suspended, and FIFA acted after months of complaints from rivals Lesotho and Nigeria.

FIFA’s ruling revived Super Eagles’ World Cup hopes

That has seen the qualification table altered with South Africa dropping to second place in Group C with 14 points, same as Benin, but with an inferior goal difference, while Nigeria and Rwanda are on 11 each heading into the final two qualifiers.

Nigerians celebrated FIFA’s ruling as it brought them back in contention although they will still depend on results elsewhere to sneak through to the 2026 World Cup but former Super Eagles defender Samuel Sodje has slammed his country for reveling in South Africa’s misery when they have not done the job on the pitch.

“It’s nice to see FIFA doing what they have to do. For South Africa, they did break the rules, and they’ve taken three points off them. That’s normal,” Sodje told Nigerian outlet Soccernet.

Why is ex-Nigeria defender unhappy with his country?

“What’s surprising now is Nigerians seeing this as big news. I think it’s embarrassing. With the kind of players we have, a big footballing nation like Nigeria shouldn’t be celebrating three points being taken off South Africa. We should be earning results ourselves.

“We’ve put ourselves in a situation where we had to depend on others losing points. If we have any slim chance, hopefully we can earn it on the pitch. That’s the only way.”

Nigeria face Lesotho and Benin in their final qualification games in October and must win both while hoping that the leading duo drop points for them to seal a direct ticket or finish second and make it to the playoffs.