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Hours after raising the hope of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup to be held in North America, the Nigeria Super Eagles’ Coach, Eric Chelle, has come out to say the team had been under “a lot of pressure” even before the Friday game.

The players had defeated Lesotho 2-1, having fielded a strong side with the return of the Galatasaray forward, Victor Osimhen, and Saudi Pro League, Al-Kholood defender, William Troost-Ekong.

In a post-match conference, Chelle expressed excitement that the team had won the game against Lesotho.

He, however, said that the pressure to put up the best performances had been on the team since March.

“Today we are happy because we won. We are still alive. I am happy for my players and I want to congratulate them. Perhaps we have felt the pressure since March. Every time my players, whenever we meet, they tell me they feel the pressure, because for Nigeria, we need to travel and we need to go to the World Cup.

“There is a lot of pressure, and this is the reality.

“So now, maybe they will take some hours of cool after this win, and I’m happy for that. Playing in this game is not the same as regular football.

“In the first half, because we were under pressure, technically, sometimes we miss some things, and it is difficult to come on the pitch, because there is a lot of tension, but I am so proud of my guys, and I told them.”

READ ALSO: Super Eagles Boost World Cup Hopes With Slim Win Over Lesotho

While corroborating Chelle’s stance, William Troost-Ekong said the match against Lesotho was a tough one.

“I also want to start by saying that Lesotho played a great game, and we knew that from the start. I can understand the disappointment and frustration because they put up a very good fight. These kinds of games are never easy, and the Coach said that already. The pressure has been on us since March at the start of the Qualifiers,” he said.

He, however, said the team was looking forward to a great outing come 2026.

Nigeria Super Eagles on Thursday kept its dream of qualification for the 2026 World Cup to be held in the North American continent alive by defeating Lesotho 2-1.

Eric Chelle fielded a strong side with the return of the Galatasaray forward, Victor Osimhen and Saudi Pro League, Al-Kholood defender, William Troost-Ekong.

Moses Simon set the pace for the Eagles in the 6th minute as he tried to weave inside from the right wing, but the Crocodiles were strong in defence.

Despite a dominant ball possession, Nigeria were sloppy in passing the ball as Lesotho’s back five prevented the opposition forwards from accessing enough space to operate in.

READ ALSO: FIFA Sanction South Africa For Fielding Ineligible Player In World Cup Qualifier

Osimhen came close in the 38th minute in putting Nigeria ahead as he beat his marker to get on the end of a cross from the right wing before powering a chance at goal, only for Sekhoane to keep out the effort.

Despite the Super Eagles’ onslaught, the Lesotho defence repelled all attacks to end the first half goalless

The second half resumed with Nigeria dominating possession and were duly rewarded in the 53rd minute when Motlomelo Mkwanazi was adjudged to have handled the ball, after he blocked a shot from Moses Simon.

Ekong stepped up to take the penalty kick, guiding it to the bottom right-hand corner.

Nigeria’s relentless pressure paid off as Osimhen, in the 80th minute, fed the ball to the right side of the penalty area to Akor Adamson, who took a touch and then drilled his effort past Sekhoane to double the lead.

UEFA on Thursday denied ongoing talks with Super League promoter A22 Sports Management, but it admitted it had met the body after the promoter told AFP it was “negotiating” with UEFA to create a new Champions League format.

“What A22 and the Super League clubs have done is to propose an agreement to UEFA that essentially consists of providing a free broadcasting platform and making very slight changes to the current competition format,” said an A22 spokesperson.

In this version, a far cry from the initial semi-closed competition project that nearly tore apart European football in 2021, the 36 teams currently qualified for the Champions League would be divided into two groups of 18 clubs, with the highest-ranked teams then competing in the round of 32.

READ ALSO: UEFA Champions League Results — Collated

UEFA acknowledged several “public meetings” between its general secretary, Theodore Theodoridis, and A22 co-founder Anas Laghrari but said they “produced no official results.”

“There are no plans to change the UEFA Champions League format,” UEFA said, having introduced a new format which came into effect from the 2024-25 season.

The developments come after Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who has long been at the forefront of the Super League project, expressed his desire for “an agreement with UEFA” to “pacify” European football.

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser al-Khelaifi, the chair of the rebranded European Football Clubs (EFC, formerly European Club Association), welcomed Laporta’s shift at the EFC meeting in Rome.

For Al-Khelaifi, Barca’s rapprochement with the EFC and UEFA does not mean the end of the Super League project, because “it was already dead before”.

“We don’t need other competitions; we already have the best competitions,” the Qatari added.

Monaco sacked their Austrian coach Adi Hutter on Thursday and are set to replace him with Belgian Sebastien Pocognoli, sources told AFP.

The 55-year-old Hutter’s assistants, Christian Peintinger and Klaus Schmidt, will also leave the club.

The trio, who were hired just over two years ago, told players about their departure after training on Thursday.

Monaco are fifth in Ligue 1 after winning four and drawing one of their first seven matches, sitting just three points off leaders Paris Saint-Germain.

They lost their opening Champions League match against Club Brugge but then held Manchester City to a 2-2 draw last week.

READ ALSO: Venezuela Sack Coach After World Cup Qualification Failure

Sources claim that Monaco tried unsuccessfully to reach an agreement with German coach Edin Terzic, 42, who was previously in charge of Borussia Dortmund.

Instead, they are said to be turning to Union Saint-Gilloise’s Pocognoli, 38, a former Belgian international who last season—his only one as a first-team head coach—led his club to a first league title in 90 years.