AFCON 2027 qualifiers: Johannes Bonfrere blasts Eric Chelle’s ‘stupid excuses’ after Nigeria’s Guinea-Bissau humiliation

Former Nigeria coach Johannes Bonfrere has described the Super Eagles’ 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers as “unbelievable” and “shameful”, while strongly rejecting Eric Chelle’s explanation for the loss.

Nigeria suffered their first defeat in Group L on Tuesday in Bissau, just three days after opening their campaign with a 2-1 comeback victory over Madagascar in Uyo. Franculino Djú put Guinea-Bissau ahead before Mama Baldé and Álvaro Djaló completed a convincing win for the hosts.

The result leaves Nigeria with three points from their opening two matches, while Guinea-Bissau moved to six points after following up their opening victory over Tanzania with another three points.

Bonfrere, who led Nigeria to Olympic football gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games, has now questioned the standard of the national team and expressed his disbelief at the margin of defeat.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable that Guinea-Bissau could defeat the Super Eagles 3-0,” Bonfrere told Complete Sports.

“Nigeria losing 3-0 to Guinea-Bissau? That’s ‘shameful’, very ‘disappointing’. It shows how low Nigerian football has fallen.”

Bonfrere rejects Chelle’s explanation

Chelle admitted after the match that Guinea-Bissau were superior, but also pointed to the condition of the pitch and the hot weather as factors that affected his players.

“They were more aggressive than us; they were better than us,” Chelle said.

“Though this is not an excuse, they know their pitch. They usually play on this pitch, but for us it was the first time and the pitch was very bad. The weather was very hot too.”

The Nigeria coach also admitted that his team failed to find a solution to the hosts’ intensity and struggled to maintain their response after half-time.

However, Bonfrere dismissed those factors as an inadequate explanation for the heavy defeat, pointing to his own experience of taking Nigeria to Eritrea in difficult conditions.

On Chelle’s excuse, he added: “That’s a stupid excuse. We once played against Eritrea in Asmara on April 9, 2000, and got a draw despite the bad pitch and weather.”

‘That’s the work of the coach’

Bonfrere argued that difficult conditions should force a coach to adapt rather than become a major explanation for a poor performance.

The Dutchman, who also guided Nigeria to the 1996 Olympic title, said Chelle and his technical team had enough opportunity to assess the playing surface before kick-off and adjust their approach accordingly.

“You trained on the pitch before the game. When the pitch is bad, when the weather is bad, you change tactics. That’s the work of the coach.”

Chelle had acknowledged before the fixture that Nigeria had limited preparation time during the September international window, with only a small number of sessions available because of travel and recovery demands.

Those difficulties were compounded by Guinea-Bissau’s greater intensity on matchday, with the hosts controlling significant periods of the contest and punishing Nigeria’s defensive weaknesses.

For Bonfrere, however, the 3-0 scoreline represents a deeper concern for a country with a long history of success in African football.

The Super Eagles will have an opportunity to respond when they face Tanzania twice in November before meeting Guinea-Bissau again in Uyo. Chelle remains confident that Nigeria can recover, despite admitting that the situation is “not very good” after the heavy defeat.