SAN FRANCISCO, November 11, (THEWILL) –Â Of the 24 Super Eagles’ players invited for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone, 16 have made it to camp. Yesterday, they trained together to start Nigeria’s preparations ahead of the clash at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City on Friday, November 13.
Those who enjoyed the lush playing turf of the newly refurbished arena include; Captain Ahmed Musa, William Troost-Ekong, Alex Iwobi, Ola Aina, Joe Aribo, Leon Balogun, Kevin Akpoguma, Sebastin Osigwe and Zaidu Sanusi. The others were Tyronne Ebuehi, Oghenekaro Etebo, Maduka Okoye, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Chidozie Awaziem, Kelechi Iheanacho and Emmanuel Dennis.
Two other players, Villarreal winger, Samuel Chukwueze and Paul Onuachu of KRC Genk had arrived the country but were yet to reach the team’s Eterna Hotel camp in Benin City due to official engagements.
Both were representing the team at the Nigeria Football Federation’s partnership signing ceremony with CIG Motors yesterday as the motor company became the Official Automobile partners of the NFF with the sealing of the deal.
At the Eterna Hotel, Babafemi Raji, the newly appointed Media Officer of the Super Eagles, captured the mood of the players. He said the spirit in camp was very high with all the players promising to give their best in the double-header matches against the Leone Stars.
The team captain, Ahmed Musa, speaking on behalf of his teammates, said all the players in camp were happy and just waiting for Friday.
” As you can see we are all happy, with everyone ready to give his best to the team. We are waiting for Friday to go into the field to pick the maximum points and fly into Freetown to also win to make our qualification a sure bet even before the remaining two games,” Musa said.
The 28-year old, who recently ended his contract at Saudi Arabia club Al Nassr, admitted that the two friendlies Nigeria played against Algeria and Tunisia helped to exhibit the quality in the players especially those recently added to the Super Eagles squad.
“As you can see from the last friendlies we played in Austria, the coach gave everybody the opportunity to come show what they have to offer. Now, we have a bunch of super talented players who have added value to the team. We are all waiting for Friday to make Nigerians happy,” concludes Musa.
The Leone Stars are expected to fly into Nigeria today ahead of the fixture on Friday in Benin City.
The match scheduled for 5pm is to be played behind closed gates on the order of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as part of the measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
