of Nigeria during a training session.
Dele Alampasu, Kelechi Iheanacho and Victor Osimhen are
among players invited for the Super Eagles friendly games against
Ivory Coast and Tunisia.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) released the list of
invitees for the matches – billed to hold next month – on its
verified Twitter handle, Thursday.
Alampasu, 23, returns to the Eagles for the first time since the
team played out a 1-1 draw with Cameroon in a 2018 World Cup
qualifiers in Yaounde, 2017.
@NGSuperEagles list of invited
players for October friendly games vs #CIV and #Tunisia in Austria
#SoarSuperEagles #Team9jaStrong pic.twitter.com/qfmeySVhHi— The NFF
(@thenff) September 21, 2020
Maduka Okoye who made his debut for Nigeria in a 2-2 draw
against Brazil in October 2019, and Matthew Yakubu, are among the
three goalkeepers invited for the games.
Expectedly, Napoli forward Victor Osimhen, Moses Simon, Samuel
Chukwueze, and captain Ahmed Musa, were also handed a call up for
the tune-up fixtures.
midfielder Aron Gunnarsson (C) vies with Nigeria’s forward Kelechi
Iheanacho (L) during the match at the Volgograd Arena in Volgograd
on June 22, 2018. NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Leicester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho is also among the
players invited for the matches after he was dropped for the
Nigerian team that came third at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations
(AFCON) in Egypt.
Tyronne Ebuehi who is back after a long injury lay-off is on
standby alongside AS Monaco’s Henry Onyekuru and others.
Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Photo:
Twitter@TheNFF
FULL LIST OF EAGLES INVITEES FOR TUNISIA, IVORY COAST
GAMES
Goalkeepers
Dele Alampasu (FK Ventspils, Latvia); Matthew Yakubu (SKF Sered,
Slovakia); Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Defenders
Kenneth Omeruo (CD Leganes, Spain); Leon Balogun (Glasgow
Rangers, Scotland); Chidozie Awaziem (FC Boavista, Portugal);
William Ekong (Udinese FC, Italy); Olaoluwa Aina (Fulham FC,
England); Jamilu Collins (SC Paderborn 07, Germany); Oluwasemilogo
Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto,
Portugal)
Midfielders
Mikel Agu (Vitoria Guimaraes, Portugal); Wilfred Ndidi
(Leicester City, England); Frank Onyeka (FC Midtjylland, Denmark);
Oghenekaro Etebo (Galatasary SK, Turkey); Samson Tijani (TSV
Hartberg, Austria)
Forwards
Ahmed Musa (Al Nassr, Saudi Arabia); Alex Iwobi (Everton FC,
England); Victor Osimhen (SSC Napoli, Italy); Moses Simon (FC
Nantes, France); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal FC, Spain); Cyril
Dessers (KRC Genk, Belgium); Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City,
England); Samuel Kalu (Girondins Bordeaux, France); Chidera Ejuke
(CSKA Moscow, Russia)
Standby
Abdullahi Shehu (Bursaspor, Turkey); Ramon Azeez (Granada CF,
Spain); Joshua Maja (Girondins Bordeaux, France); Henry Onyekuru
(AS Monaco, France); Tyronne Ebuehi (FC Twente, Netherlands).
Two-Step Forward
The Eagles recently moved two places to 29th in the latest world
rankings. This is the first time FIFA will be releasing the
rankings in six months.
In the latest rankings released by the football governing body
on Thursday, Nigeria got 1493 points even though they did not play
a game within the period under review.
Gernot Rohr’s men are now third on the continent, trailing
Senegal (20th) and Tunisia (26th) in first and second
respectively.