International Friendly: Super Eagles are Portugal’s Final Warm-Up 

Portugal vs Nigeria

If you fancy the European Selecao for a tilt at the 2022 World Cup (and why shouldn’t you?) there is a chance to take one last look at Portugal before the hostilities begin in Qatar. 

This international friendly will be a good test of Fernando Santos’ star-studded team before their campaign begins, as they meet one of Africa’s strongest sides, the Super Eagles, who have a point to prove having been dumped out of the competition at the play-off stage. The latest FIFA world rankings place the Selecao at ninth and Nigeria 32^nd and the SBOTOP odds for this game, even though it is a warm-up, will go with the higher-ranked nation. 

This is Portugal’s first outing since going down to Spain in a 1-0 UEFA Nations League defeat, while Nigeria had a friendly meeting with Costa Rica last week where they were on the end of a 2-0 beating. 

Talking Points

Portugal’s fringe players can impress 

Selecao head coach Santos has a deep squad to choose from at the World Cup and he has selected 26 top-quality players from Europe’s big leagues. They will be a decent outside bet in Qatar and the Manchester contingent, in Portugal’s group of players, are particularly comfortable on the biggest stages.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes have joined the Portugal squad, though they may not be on the best of terms after CR7 did a controversial interview this week, highly critical of Manchester United. There are no such tensions on the Sky Blue half of the city and we can expect to see Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Ruben Dias getting plenty of game time at the finals. 

Fulham’s Joao Palhinha was highly impressive in midfield when the Cottagers met Manchester United last weekend and Santos may take a closer look at him against the Super Eagles. He’s a clever ball-playing operator who can break up opposition attacks and launch counter assaults.

And the boss might well give a game to AC Milan’s Rafael Leao and Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix. The two 23-year-olds have a lot of pressure on their young shoulders; Leao has attracted a lot of interest from Europe’s biggest clubs following his standout season in 20121/22, while Felix is still trying to live up to the huge price tag which took him from Benfica to Madrid.

Both are outstanding talents and Qatar could see them sparkle on the world stage. 

Defeat to neighbours Spain in their last outing was a decent benchmark as to where Portugal needs to be as La Roja are one of the teams which will lead the charge for the World Title.  And Nigeria is a team they will expect to beat.

Lookman is Nigeria’s danger man 

The Super Eagles suffered a sad exit to the World Cup in a hard-fought play-off clash with Ghana, which they lost on away goals after the two African heavyweights played out two draws. Head coach Jose Peseiro was appointed to the role in May 2022, after the Word Cup ship had already sailed, and his role is to mould a team which is capable of dominating Africa in the coming years. 

Peseiro has some exciting players in his side, none more so than Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman who, at 25 years of age, is finally beginning to fulfil his undoubted promise. He’s a fast and skilful attacker who can play on the wing or in a Number 10 role and his move from England to Italy has seen him mature. Villarreal’s 23-year-old Samuel Chuckwueze is another who can play out wide or through the middle and these two stars can produce some international friendly 2022 highlights against the Portugal defence if they are on song. 

Everton’s Alex Iwobi and Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi provide experience in midfield, while

Watford keeper Maduka Okoye and his team-mate William Troost-Ekong at centre-back are likely to be two of the busiest players on the pitch.

History

Portugal’s best performance at a World Cup was in 1966, when they finished third as England lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy. But the Selecao has been a stronger player in recent years as European Champions in 2016 and UEFA Nations League Champions in 2019. 

Nigeria are three times African Cup of Nations Champions, the last time in 2013 and have reached the World Cup finals on six occasions, making the Round of 16 in 1994, 1998 and 2014. 

We don’t have any historical results to guide us, but in terms of recent form, Portugal have been slightly better than their visitors, registering three wins, a draw and two defeats, while Nigeria have won two and suffered four defeats.

Betting Tip

Portugal kick off their World Cup campaign with a match against Ghana and so, after their first opponents reached the finals by seeing off the Super Eagles, anything other than a home win in this game would be a worry. 

The pre-match international friendly 2022 betting odds are pointing firmly towards that outcome at a price of 1.27, while the double chance Nigeria or draw is at 1.33. There is competition for places in the Portugal squad and every one of the Selecao stars will want to shine if they get the chance, and I believe they will have too much for their visitors.

 

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