BEVERLY HILLS, June 04, (THEWILL) – The day has come for the senior men’s national football team, the Super Eagles, to engage the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, in the first of a series of high profile international friendly matches organised to keep the players fit and cohesive as a unit ahead of the World Cup qualifiers, which were postponed to existing international windows of September, October and November 2021, and March 2022.
As THEWILL reported last month, FIFA, in conjunction with the Confederation of African Football (CAF), based on the current disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to ensure optimal playing conditions for all teams, decided to postpone the African qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™️, due to be played in June 2021.
To not lose any steam during the international break and to keep the the Super Eagles competitive, friendly matches against Cameroon and Mexico have been confirmed on the cards for Gernot Rohr’s charges, presenting the German coach the opportunity to make selections from the options available out of Nigerian footballers who had splendid outcomes in the 2020/2021 season.
For Friday’s outing against the Indomitable Lions, the Super Eagles have expressed their determination to extend Nigeria’s unbeaten streak of five matches against the Cameroonians when they confront the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon at the Stadion Wiener Neustadt in the Austrian capital city of Vienna.
The last time Nigeria lost a football match was a lone goal defeat at the hands of current reigning African champions Algeria in an international friendly that was also played in Austria in October last year. Since then, the three-time African champions have been unbeaten in all outings.
A series of draws began with a 1-1 draw that followed in the next friendly against Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles, 4-4 and 0-0 against Sierra Leone in a doubleheader 2021 AFCON qualifiers in November last year.
Then, the Super Eagles broke the unbeaten home record of the Squirrels of Benin Republic 1-0 in Porto Novo in another 2021 AFCON qualifier before thrashing Lesotho 3-0 in the finale to the 2021 AFCON qualifying race in Lagos, even though they had already qualified.
With the inclusion of defender Anthony Izuchukwu, who joined up with the rest at the Eagles camp in the Hilton Garden Inn, Wiener Neustadt Osterreich on Wednesday, from his team Sparta Trnava of Slovakia, there are now 21 players ready for the match.
Friday’s encounter will be the first of two between the fierce continental rivals as they are set to meet in the second of their doubleheader on Tuesday next week at the same Stadion Wiener Neustadt venue.
The Super Eagles Squad Sheet:
Goalkeepers: Maduka Okoye, Francis Uzoho, John Noble
Defenders: William Ekong, Valentine Ozornwafor, Chidozie Awaziem, Anthony Izuchukwu, Jamilu Collins
Midfielders: Wilfred Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo, Abdullahi Shehu, Abraham Marcus, Samson Tijani
Forwards: Ahmed Musa, Paul Onuachu, Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Moses Simon, Anayo Iwuala, Terem Moffi, Peter Olayinka.
The match will kick off at the the Stadion Wiener Neustadt at exactly 8:30pm local time.
About the Author
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.
