Nigeria’s failure to score more than two goals in their international friendly against Saudi Arabia on Friday was due to a lack of killer instinct among their strikers, coach Jose Peseiro has stated.
The Portuguese manager bemoaned the lack of a cutting edge after his side created numerous scoring chances and dominated possession against the Green Falcons but failed to take advantage of them.
Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Samuel Chukwueze all had first-half chances to put Nigeria ahead, but the Saudis took a shock lead on the hour mark when goalkeeper Francis Uzoho palmed the ball into his own net from a free-kick.
Nigeria equalized through Victor Boniface and Kelechi Iheanacho in the second half, but Saudi Arabia snatched a late equalizer from a free-kick that deflected off Calvin Bassey.
“We need to improve on our finishing,” Peseiro said in his post-match interview. “I think we played very well in the first half and could have scored about three to five goals. In the second half as well, we created more chances, but we need the killer instinct in this squad.”
Nigeria’s next match is a friendly against Mozambique on Monday, before they begin their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign against Lesotho and Zimbabwe next month.
