Head coach of Portugal Roberto Martinez has defended the logic behind their decision to play the senior national team of Nigeria in a friendly game before the world cup, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Nigeria who won’t be at the world cup will travel to Lisbon for the high profile friendly game which will take place on the 10th of June. It’s among the tune up games that Portugal want to use as part of their preparation for the world cup.
Criticism trail the decision of Nigeria with many in the Portuguese media saying it’s of no use engaging a team that won’t be at the world cup, that it will be better if they faced a team that qualified for the tournament.
Defending the decision Martinez argued that the choice of Nigeria is logical, because they will open their campaign at the tournament against DR Congo, an African country whom ironically stopped Nigeria from making it to the intercontinental playoff.
The idea of the Super Eagles is to give the player a feel of what to expect when they come up against an African country, and Nigeria one of the power houses in African football is just perfect despite not qualifying for the tournament.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
