Nigeria vs DR Congo: Eric Chelle has failed and should be sacked, but not now

When Eric Chelle was announced as the new coach of the Super Eagles at the beginning of this year, he was given two targets: lead Nigeria to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and deliver a strong showing at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. 

Before Chelle’s arrival, the Super Eagles had gone through many managerial changes in two years, with none finding the required success expected from them. 

Finidi George had overseen two terrible games against South Africa and Benin in the previous year, while Austin Eguavoen filled in temporarily for the last few games of the 2025 AFCON qualifiers. 

While Eguavoen managed to seal the AFCON 2025 ticket, it was obvious that the Super Eagles needed fresh blood in the dugout, hence why the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) decided to go for Chelle. 

Chelle’s Mali team had impressed neutrals at AFCON 2023, so his arrival came with optimism, even though a lot of critics argued that a fellow African should not be given the job. 

Nonetheless, with AFCON 2025 ticket secured, the 48-year-old tactician had just one job on his hand, which was to lead the Super Eagles to the 2026 World Cup. 

The three-time African champions were in a bad spot when Chelle took over, as they had failed to win any of their first four games. 

However, the situation was still salvageable as long as the team won all remaining games, which might have been difficult but doable. 

But nine months after he was brought in to save Nigeria’s World Cup hopes, Chelle has failed in his mission. 

The former Mali coach did start well by beating Rwanda away from home, but the disappointing 1-1 home draw against Zimbabwe all but ended Nigeria’s World Cup hopes. 

Following that game, though, the Super Eagles beat Rwanda before playing a 1-1 draw away at South Africa, who were the eventual group winners. 

However, they were handed two lifelines when FIFA docked South Africa three points for fielding an ineligible player before ruling that results against the last-placed team in all the groups will not count in deciding the four best second-place teams.

While South Africa still finished top of the group, the Super Eagles took advantage of the second lifeline by finishing among the four best second-place teams following a 4-0 win over Benin on the last day. 

This kept their World Cup hopes alive going into the CAF playoffs. They did beat Gabon in the semifinal of the playoffs, but eventually missed out on potential qualification after losing to DR Congo on penalties in the final. 

That shootout defeat ended the hopes of a nation and exposed the flaws that had been glaring since Chelle took charge of his first game. 

Yes, he accepted a difficult challenge, but it was still a salvageable situation because the Super Eagles only needed to win all their remaining games to qualify. 

Although one could argue that it was expected that the Super Eagles might not qualify as group winners, the team’s performance in all six qualifiers exposed Chelle’s flaws as a coach. 

The Super Eagles did not look any different from last year’s team, even though Chelle did not lose any of these six games. 

Chelle’s Super Eagles never instilled confidence, which was a problem before he came on board. 

Even in the games that they won, the three-time African champions were never convincing in victory. There is always this fear that they would give up the lead, which was always the case for most of the games. 

However, the worrying trend was that the Super Eagles played like a team that did not know what was at stake in these games. 

There was no reason for the team to drop points at home against Zimbabwe, knowing they needed to win all their games. 

Despite taking the lead, the Super Eagles never looked like a team that would win and were duly punished after the Warriors snatched a point at the death. 

While one could even blame the players for not doing more, they were not helped by Chelle’s stubbornness or cluelessness. 

The former Lens player was known for his 4-4-2 diamond when he was in charge of Mali, so it was expected that he would bring that idea to the Super Eagles. 

However, while it worked for Mali, he could not replicate the same result with Nigeria, showing why the team struggled in these games. 

One of the reasons why many coaches found success is the ability to adapt their tactics to their players’ strengths. 

Chelle refused to adapt, as he stuck with a two-man midfield of Alex Iwobi and Wilfred Ndidi in most of the games. 

This left gaps in the middle and exposed us badly in most of these games. Aside from his stubbornness, Chelle’s in-game management is also poor. 

It was obvious in the game against DR Congo that Nigeria were on the back foot in the second half, yet he never addressed the situation. 

The midfield needed bodies, especially a midfielder who is press-resistant. Yet, Chelle, who has Raphael Onyedika on the bench, did not see this. 

It was something an amateur coach could see, but the 48-year-old Malian looked out of ideas on the touchline. 

This same situation had happened in the 4-1 win against Gabon, but Chelle got lucky because the Panthers did not have enough quality to hurt Nigeria. 

However, he was not lucky against Congo, and one could say the Super Eagles were fortunate to take the Leopards to penalties.

The whole performance of the team during these qualifiers raises the question about Chelle’s knowledge of his team and the strength of his players. 

His post-match comments, accusing DR Congo of using voodoo, also made him look like a sore loser and embarrassed the whole of Nigeria. 

This whole conduct and the team’s performance have raised doubts over his ability to lead Nigeria to the AFCON. 

The Super Eagles need a strong performance at the AFCON to compensate for the failure of missing out on the World Cup, but with what the team has shown over the last seven months, it is only right to doubt Chelle. 

However, while Chelle is unlikely to change the team’s fortunes, it will still be a foolish thing to sack him with just one month left before AFCON starts. 

There is not enough time to bring a capable replacement, so the best thing for the team will be to stick with him. The last time the NFF made a coaching change before AFCON, it resulted in a second-round exit for the team.

To avoid a repeat of that, the best thing for the incompetent NFF board is to stick with the former Mali coach at least until after AFCON.