SUPER Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has unveiled his list of 25 invitees for the forthcoming friendly games against Ivory Coast and Tunisia that includes 20 year old Matthew Yakubu who has had a fantastic season with Slovak club SKF Sere.
Due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, all World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers were postponed indefinitely. Now that the lockdown has been lifted, international matches have begun and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is lining up games against the Elephants of Ivory Coast and the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia on October 9 and 13 in Austria.
NFF president Amaju Pinnick, revealed that Austria was picked as an ideal venue to host the two friendlies due to the Covid-19 protocols presently in place and the proximity of the bulk of the Super Eagles team as well. He added that the costs of the friendlies will be borne by three federations.
Earlier this morning, coach Rohr submitted the list of players he has picked to participate in the two games next month. Among those on standby are on-loan Benfica defender Tyronne Ebuehi who is returning from injury after a whole season out of action but is now returning to his old form with FC Twente in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Full List:
Goalkeepers (3): Dele Alampasu (FK Ventspils, Latvia); Matthew Yakubu (SKF Sered, Slovakia); Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Defenders (8): 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 Padeborn 07, Germany); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal)
Midfielders (5): 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 (9): 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)
Henry Onyekuru, Josh Maja, Abdullahi Shehu, Ramon Azeez and Tyronne Ebuehi have all been placed on standby.
