BEVERLY HILLS, March 25, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, will play their first match in the commercial hub of Lagos in 10 years on Tuesday, March 30 against the Crocodiles of Lesotho, in their final qualifying fixture for the 2021 Total African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
In view of this post-decade return to the South-Western city, on Wednesday night, players and officials of the team paid Lagos State’s Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu a cordial visit.
The delegation, which was hosted at the Lagos House in Marina, was led by Amaju Melvin Pinnick, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, who was recently elected into the very influential Executive Council of world football governing body, FIFA.
The lengthy absence from Lagos by the national team led to a alienation of the majority of the team from the commercial capital of Nigeria to the point that, except team captain Ahmed Musa, none of the present crop of Super Eagles players had ever played a game in Lagos.
However, they were all excited and were delightfully looking forward to doing so on Tuesday at the Lagos State-owned Teslim Balogun Stadium against the Crocodiles in the last game of these qualifiers.
A handful of the players, who expressed enthusiasm at the prospects of returning to Lagos, spoke of how it felt for them to play for the country at this time and do so in Sports-City, Lagos, as well.
Oluwasemilogo Ajayi, defensive midfielder for the English Premier League side West Bromwich Albion, said: “I’m delighted to be back in Lagos. I have a lot of family here and I spend a lot of time here when visiting my family members; so Lagos is somewhere I’m very comfortable with and I’m glad that the Super Eagles are back.”
Joseph Ayodele-Aribo was rearing to go.
“I can’t wait to feel the nice feeling of playing in Lagos,” the Scottish Premiership club Rangers’ midfielder said. “To be fair I’ve not experienced it but I know it’s going to be amazing playing football in Lagos because we’re back home, it would be a nice feeling to go out there and I can’t wait honestly.”
What the EPL’s Everton winger, Alex Iwobi, was looking forward to most in that Tuesday tie was that unmistakeable “Lagos energy” that was powerfully energising for the home side.
Iwobi said: “Of course I’m looking forward to the game in Lagos, I know the fans are going to bring the energy we need and it’s not just me but I can tell you everyone is looking forward to playing that game”.
However, prior to that Lagos match, the first port of call for the Super Eagles is against the Squirrels of the Republic of Benin on Saturday, March 27 at the Stade Charles de Gaulle in Porto Novo with a kickoff time of 5PM local time.
One point from that tie will be enough to qualify the current Group L leaders, the Super Eagles, and guarantee them a spot in the Cameroon-hosted AFCON which begins early next year.
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.
