Nigeria’s Super Eagles held their first training session on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming international friendly games against Ghana and Mali, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Super Eagles will play their first games since the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final loss to Cote d’Ivoire in January. They take on Ghana on March 22 and Mali four days later.
Ahead of the games, the Nigeria Football Federation invited 26 players, with Enyimba coach Finidi George taking charge following the exit of Jose Peseiro. Unfortunately, four of those players have pulled out, including Victor Osimhen, Gabriel Osho, Tyrone Ebuehi, and Taiwo Awoniyi.
As of the time of this report, eleven players had arrived in camp: Stanley Nwabali, Cyriel Dessers, Nathan Tella, Moses Simon, Alex Iwobi, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi, Jamilu Collins, Bruno Onyemaechi, and Sadiq Umar.
The team has wasted little time in getting to work, as they shared pictures of the players and the interim coaching staff at the team’s training ground in Morocco.
SuperEagles Soaring District
#soccernet #soarsupereagles pic.twitter.com/KJhccImhuq
— Soccernet.ng (@soccernet_ng) March 19, 2024
The game could be a litmus test for Finidi George, who is one of the frontrunners for the Super Eagles job. If he performs well in both games, he could get the job, but if not doesn’t, he may keep his place as an assistant.
Although both games are friendlies, they are important because the next time Nigeria will play will be the World Cup qualifiers against South Africa in June.
