World Cup (Q): Adepoju blames pitch condition for Nigeria draw against South Africa

Former Nigerian international Mutiu Adepoju believes the condition of the pitch is to blame for Nigeria’s 1-1 draw against South Africa in their tense 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture at the Free State Stadium on Tuesday.

Bafana Bafana were the first to find the back of the net after Nigeria defender William Troost-Ekong beat his own goalkeeper in the 25th minute.

However, the Super Eagles levelled the scores on the stroke of halftime through defender Calvin Bassey. The two sides continued to fight for the winner in the second half, but none was able to score as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

“I am not really happy with the kind of pitch that was used for this big game of this nature. As you can see, the Super Eagles players are really struggling to cope with it because it’s a bumpy pitch,” said Adepoju, who was a guest on Sporty TV, as quoted by CompleteSports.

“The players tried their best to cope with the nature of the pitch, and it’s so unfortunate that Nigeria could only play a 1-1 draw against South Africa.”

The outcome kept Bafana Bafana at the top of Group C with 17 points, while Nigeria stayed in third position with 11 points. The Super Eagles will wind up their group matches against Lesotho and Benin.

For Bafana, they will play Zimbabwe away and return home to host Rwanda.

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