Super Eagles defender Bruno Onyemaechi has shared his thoughts on Nigeria’s performance in their friendly match against Portugal on Wednesday night, Soccernet.ng reports.
The three-time African champions faced the 2016 European champions in what was Portugal’s final preparation match ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Estádio Dr. magalhães Pessoa, but suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat in the encounter.
Pedro Neto opened the scoring for the hosts, but Akor Adams’ sixth international goal restored parity before half-time. However, Juventus forward Francisco Conceição produced a stunning strike in the second half to seal victory for Portugal.
The result was Nigeria’s first defeat in normal time since their 2-1 loss to Egypt in a warm-up game ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, bringing an end to a strong run of form that also included comfortable wins over Zimbabwe and Jamaica to clinch the 2026 Unity Cup.
The Super Eagles had come under criticism during the March international window for the quality of opponents they faced, but both games this month has provided a much tougher challenge and shown where the team stands against elite opponents.
Bruno Onyemaechi backs Nigeria for more high-profile friendlies
Nigeria suffered a 4-0 defeat to Portugal in their last meeting in 2022, showing the gulf in qualify at the time, but Wednesday’s performance showed clear improvement, with just a single goal separating both sides.
Despite the presence of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha and João Neves for Portugal, the Super Eagles were far more competitive this time around, even though they missed the presence of Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.
Although the Super Eagles suffered defeat and saw their unbeaten run end, Olympiacos left-back Onyemaechi believes there were plenty of positives to take from the performance.
“It was a very good game. It was a very competitive game for us to test our ability”, Onyemaechi said post-match.
The former Feirense defender enjoyed a memorable moment after the final whistle, exchanging shirts with his idol Cristiano Ronaldo and stressed the importance of consistently facing elite oppositions.
“We are a great nation too, and these are the kind of games we need to play to test our ability. I hope we have more of these teams to play against.”
Nigeria will now turn their attention to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign which begins in September, as they look to bounce back and avoid another major setback after missing out on the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
