Baciro Cande, Guinea-Bissau head coach has mocked Nigerian players after his side’s shock 1-0 victory over the three-time African champions in Abuja on Friday in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
The Wild Dogs recorded one of the biggest upsets in African football with a 1-0 win over the hosts and favorites at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, as fans watched in disbelief, another horrible display by the Eagles under Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro.
Speaking with reporters after the match, Cande said his team deserved the win despite the array of “big names” paraded by the Nigerians.
“This victory is for the Guinea-Bissau people, we respect all the Nigerian players, but big names don’t play football on the pitch.
“They (Eagles) tried to do everything to beat us and created many scoring chances, but we deserved to win,” Cande said.
“We are very happy about today’s (Friday) victory and the boys did a very good job. The result is very important for us and the Guinea-Bissau people.”
He, however, admitted the result shocked his team.
“We are surprised, but the team trained very hard and today they beat Nigeria, a big football country with good players. We feel good about this victory against Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, the super Eagles will be going for a second-leg match in Guinea-Bissau at the Estadio 24 de Setembro in Bissau on Monday.
Reacting to that, Cande added, “I will keep the team in focus ahead of the return leg and we will see what is the best strategy to adopt for the next game.
“I can’t really speak about the strategy we deployed in today’s match because we have another game next week.”
