Super Eagles striker Akor Adams has admitted that Nigeria’s 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier was unacceptable, insisting that the team has already begun making corrections to avoid a repeat of the result.
The Djurtus stunned Nigeria at the Estádio Nacional 24 de Setembro in Bissau, scoring once in the first half and twice after the break to secure a convincing victory in front of their home supporters and move top of Group L with six points from two matches.
Adams, who played for 76 minutes before being substituted, acknowledged that several factors affected the game but stressed that the Super Eagles could not use them as an excuse for their disappointing performance.
“I think there are many factors that happened in the game but it’s not a game we should lose, which we would take responsibility and we have taken responsibility for that,” Adams said in an interview released by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
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The Venezia striker said the team had prepared well for the encounter and understood its importance in the qualification race, but admitted that Nigeria failed to produce their best performance on the day.
“It’s a game we prepared very well for, we know how important it was to us in the qualification phase. But looking back, we are already making corrections to what happened in the game,” he added.
Adams also pointed to the difficult condition of the pitch in Bissau, which attracted criticism before and after the match, but insisted that the playing surface could not be used to explain away the defeat.
“I think good pitch should be a bare minimum for African football, this we all know and I’m not making any excuses, I would not make excuses,” he said.
The forward maintained that professionals must be prepared to deal with different circumstances during international matches, regardless of the weather, officiating or playing conditions.
“We are professionals, we should know that there are a lot of things that come with the game, the weather, the referee, whatever the circumstance we should be able to find our way. But good pitch should be a bare minimum for how big African football is, and that was not the case on that day.”
The 26-year-old further acknowledged the disappointment within the Super Eagles camp following the defeat, revealing that captain Wilfred Ndidi and several other players were particularly unhappy with the result.
“The captain was pissed at us and I can understand from his point. Many of the boys were not happy, completely devastated, coming away a long trip and not taking anything back home in an important qualification game,” he said.
Nigeria currently sit second in Group L with three points, three points behind leaders Guinea-Bissau, with only one team set to qualify from the group.
Adams believes the Super Eagles must now learn from their setback and ensure they do not find themselves relying on other results later in the qualification campaign.
“There are still games to go but with qualifications, we try our best in this generation to not be in a place where we need another team to either do good or do bad so we qualify,” he said.
“But we fell short against Bissau and we understand better now and we’ll make sure we come out good.”
With the Super Eagles now turning their attention to their next international assignment, Adams believes the team must live up to the high standards associated with representing Nigeria.
“We already set the standards very high so living up to that standard is what we wake up to do every day as the Super Eagles. For me, that’s one thing we should do going into the next games, we are aware of the standards and we should live up to that.”
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