Wilfred Ndidi has declared that Nigeria will not be overawed by Portugal’s star-studded squad when the Super Eagles face the Selecao in Wednesday’s international friendly, Footynaija reports.
The encounter comes at contrasting moments for both nations. Portugal, ranked fifth in the world, are putting the finishing touches to their preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and will parade household names such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes. Nigeria, meanwhile, are rebuilding after failing to secure a place at the tournament and will be without key forwards Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.
Rather than viewing the game as a mismatch, Ndidi sees it as another important checkpoint in the team’s development.
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“It will be a very good test for us. We made the first test against Poland and Portugal is a great team, a massive team with big players as well,” Ndidi said.
“So, it will also be a very massive test for us as a group, for our vision, for our aim as a team, for our growth, it will be a very good test for us.”
The midfielder also made it clear that Nigeria’s approach will not change because of the opponent.
“We believe in ourselves. We don’t care who we’re playing even if we’re playing the likes of the biggest countries in the world. But the most important thing is we as players, we as team which is very important and we look forward to taking our philosophy and our strategy everything to the game.”
Ndidi admitted missing the World Cup remains painful but insisted the focus is now firmly on the future.
“If it comes out well, very brilliant. We keep learning. If it doesn’t come out well, it’s still brilliant. Yes, we didn’t qualify for this World Cup which was very painful. But what we’re planning now is just for the future. The philosophy as I said earlier, the targets, the aim is to keep improving and we try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“We will try to qualify for every tournament, try to win games, which is very important. The group is very focused. Missing out on the World Cup is very sad, but we just want to look forward. It’s in the past now. We wish the teams at the World Cup good luck, but for us it is about the next competition we can actually qualify for.”
“Missing out on the World Cup is really sad, everyone can say that but as I said earlier the aim is not just to beat ourselves on what we’ve missed is to actually look forward to the bright future and what we can actually achieve together as a team.”
Nigeria will also have the memory of a 4-0 defeat to Portugal in their last meeting four years ago as extra motivation heading into the contest.
