The Super Eagles’ preparations for Thursday’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone got a boost on Sunday as Victor Osimhen, Sadiq Umar, and Ademola Lookman trained with the rest of the team in Abuja.
Nigeria’s Friendly matches against Mexico and against Ecuador in the United States kick-started the preparations as the country’s race to make her 20th appearance at the continental football showpiece held in Ivory Coast next year gets underway.
Only three of the 27 invited players; Calvin Bassey, Joseph Ayodele-Aribo, both of whom featured in the friendly games in the US, and Abdullahi Shehu, who returned to the country last week from his base in Cyprus, were not part of Sunday’s training.
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Technical Adviser José Santos Peseiro took charge of the training and captain Ahmed Musa led the playing body that included goalkeepers; Francis Uzoho, Adewale Adeyinka, and Adebayo Adeleye, and defenders Olaoluwa Aina, William Ekong, Zaidu Sanusi, Chidozie Awaziem, Oluwasemilogo Ajayi, Leon Balogun, Sani Faisal, and Kenneth Omeruo were also in the training session.
There were also midfielders; Alex Iwobi, Oghenekaro Etebo, Innocent Bonke, and Frank Onyeka, and forwards Samuel Chukwueze, Moses Simon, Victor Osimhen, Cyriel Dessers, Ademola Lookman, Sadiq Umar, Terem Moffi and Emmanuel Dennis in action.
Peseiro also used the opportunity to meet and familiarize himself with players who were unable to make it to the United States for the friendlies. They are skipper Musa, Sanusi Balogun, Etebo, Chukwueze, Umar and Lookman, Onyeka, Osimhen, and Adeleye all of whom were not invited to the friendlies in America but have been called for the AFCON qualifiers.
The Eagles will face the Leone Stars at the Moshood Abiola national stadium on Thursday in their first Group A game of the qualifiers, before flying to Marrakech, Morocco, on Saturday, for the clash against São Tomé and Príncipe that will take place on June 13.
