The first training session of the Super Eagles at Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos was observed on Tuesday with strict COVID-19 regulations put in place by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), megasportsarena.com reports.
Although Confederation of African Football (CAF) has given the go-ahead for at least 8,000 fans to turn up for next Tuesday’s last match of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Lesotho, the NFF decided not to take chances with the commencement of full raining at the same venue.
Consequently, a directive went out through the media that only a select few journalists would be allowed in to cover the session, while the gates would be shut against prying eyes of ardent football fans from The Centre of Excellence.
Starting at 4:30pm, Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr lined out 20 players, following the arrivals of APOEL of Cyprus goalkeeper, Francis Odinaka Uzoho and FC Porto of Portugal left-back, Zaidu Sanusi, with reminders by the NFF that fans should not be allowed to attend the session due to COVID-19 protocols.
One of the players that looks good to start for Nigeria on Saturday, Galatasaray of Turkey battling midfielder, Oghenekaro Etebo assured the country’s football fans that the players will go all out for victory in Porto Novo, as they aim to qualify for Cameroon 2022 with a game to spare.
He further assured that they will not repeat the mistake that saw them give up a four-goal lead to draw 4-4 with Sierra Leone at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, as all the players know that they will qualify for next year’s AFCON if they get a draw on Saturday.
Etebo posited: “I can assure you guys that it is not going to repeat itself again because it’s like a lesson learnt but the most important thing is this game coming up on Saturday. It’s just for us to get a win and then we can come back home to celebrate that we’ve qualified already.”
Benin Republic Commence Preparation For Game Against Nigeria
The Squirrels of Benin Republic on Tuesday commenced preparation for this weekend’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria, as the team’s French coach, Michel Dussuyer took his lads out for their first session.
Dussuyer looked relieved having the full complement of his invited legion from France, as The Squirrels started training together for the first time ahead of Saturday’s match with the three-time African champions.
Information provided by the media unit of Fédération Béninoise de Football revealed that Dussuyer worked with several France-based players, who flew to Cotonou earlier this week aboard a private jet.
That allowed Dussuyer have all players he called up for the last two games of the AFCON 2022 qualifiers against Nigeria and Sierra Leone, such that the gaffer was beaming with delight during The Squirrels’ first training session at Mathieu Kérékou Stadium in Cotonou on Tuesday.
If the training photos are anything to go by, the Benin players were in high spirits as they prepared to face their illustrious neighbors.
Heading into the fixture against Nigeria, Benin are trailing their opponent by one point having accumulated seven points from their first four matches.
