Portugal coach Roberto Martinez has praised the Super Eagles and their coach, Eric Chelle. This comes before their friendly match at the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria on Wednesday, according to PUNCH Sports Extra.
The upcoming friendly will be Portugal’s last game before they head to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. For Nigeria, it will be a chance to see how far they have come under Chelle's leadership.
Unlike Portugal, Nigeria will not be at this year’s World Cup. They missed out for the second time in a row.
The last meeting between the two teams was in November 2022, where Portugal won 4, 0 in a World Cup warm-up. Martinez, who said he did not know about that match, thinks this game will be much harder.
“In terms of the forward players of Nigeria, they are very helpful for us to defend as a team,” Martinez said during the press conference before the match.
“Nigeria are very competitive. I enjoyed their last friendly against Poland and I love the ideas of the coach. I can see players like Lookman and Osimhen are not here and they get replaced by players with a high level of performance.
“I expect a competitive game, real quality players with a lot of experience, Bassey, Iwobi, players with a lot of experience that I know so well.”
Before the match starts, Nigeria will celebrate midfielder Alex Iwobi as he makes his 100th senior appearance for the national team.
Meanwhile, Portugal is in Group K for the World Cup. They will play against DR Congo, Uzbekistan, and Colombia.
The Selecao lost to Morocco in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup in Qatar. They are still looking for their first-ever world title.
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