The Super Eagles of Nigeria are set to engage arch-rivals, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, in a friendly match preparatory to their World Cup qualifying campaign. The match comes up on June 4, 2021 in Vienna, Austria.
Consequent upon the above, Super Eagles Chief Coach, Gernot Rohr, has released a provisional 31-man list of players he intends to execute the match with. This list will be trimmed to a final 23 ahead of the match.
The list included regulars and a few newbies like Crotone’s Simy Nwankwo and Lorient’s Terem Moffi. Four domestic league players are also included in the list as given below:
FULL LIST
Goalkeepers
Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam, The Netherlands); Francis Uzoho (APOEL Nicosia, Cyprus); John Noble (Enyimba FC); Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Heartland FC).
Defenders
William Ekong (Watford FC, England); Kenneth Omeruo (CD Leganes, Spain); Chidozie Awaziem (FC Boavista, Portugal); Jamilu Collins (SC Padeborn 07, Germany); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Olaoluwa Aina (Fulham FC, England); Tyronne Ebuehi (FC Twente, The Netherlands); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England); Kevin Akpoguma (Hoffenheim, Germany).
Midfielders
Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England); Oghenekaro Etebo (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Abdullahi Shehu (Omonia Nicosa, Cyprus); Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Abraham Marcus (CD Feirense, Portugal).
Forwards
Ahmed Musa (Kano Pillars FC); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Alex Iwobi (Everton FC, England); Simy Nwankwo (Crotone FC, Italy); Victor Osimhen (Napoli FC, Italy); Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal FC, Spain); Sadiq Umar (Almeria FC, Spain); Terem Moffi (FC Lorient, France); Henry Onyekuru (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Anayo Iwuala (Enyimba FC); Peter Olayinka (Slavia Praha, Czech Republic); Paul Onuachu (KRC Genk, Belgium).
Nigeria last met with Cameroon in the Round of 16 of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt where goals from Odion Ighalo (brace) and Alex Iwobi ensured the Super Eagles had a 3-2 victory to qualify for the quarter finals of the tournament.
2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches begin in September and Rohr is looking for quality friendlies to prep up the team.
The Super Eagles are in Group C with Cape Verde, Liberia and Central African Republic while the Indomitable Lions are in Group D alongside the Ivory Coast, Mozambique and Malawi.
Azuka Edokobi is a Writer , a Farmer, a Supply Chain Expert and an Entrepreneur
