Contrary to initial reports that that this Saturday’s second leg of the home-based Eagles’ 2020 Championship of African Nations (CHAN) qualifier against The Hawks of Togo will hold at Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have disclosed that it will actually take place in Lagos, megasportsarena.com reports.
A statement by the NFF’s communications department on Monday disclosed that the match will take place at Agege Stadium, Lagos on Saturday, 19th October, starting at 4pm.
The Eagles’ B-squad Eagles must beat Togo with three unreplied goals to qualify for CHAN 2020 in Cameroon, as they lost the first leg 4-1 in Lome, but coach of the Nigeria side, Imama Amapakabo assured that his wards will do everything to turn the table at The Temple of Soccer.
In a desperate bid to win Saturday’s game, Amapakabo has invited eight new player to beef up his the team ahead of the crunch tie, with Kano Pillars duo Ifeanyi Nweke and Nyima Nwangwua, Enyimba defender, Ifeanyi Aneamena, Rangers midfielder Anthony Shimanga all included.
They will be joined by Katsina duo of Destiny Ashadi and Ibrahim Olawoyin joining the squad, while Heartland of Owerri goalkeeper, Ikechukwu Ezenwa makes a return after opting out of the WAFU Cup of Nations in order to honour an invitation to the main Eagles for their friendly match against Brazil last Sunday in Singapore.
Winner of the match-up on aggregate will qualify for the next CHAN, scheduled for Cameroon in January 2020, and Amapakabo admits it will be a tough evening for his side, as he acknowledges that they have a huge job to execute, after losing massive during the first leg.
Amapakabo declared: “We never underrated our opponents. That would have been a foolish thing to do in football. The truth is that we fielded mainly a young team that could not really live up to expectations technically compared to the senior players in the Togolese side.
“However, we have taken this as a learning curve and awaiting the return match. We know there is a second match and no two games can be the same. It is after the match in Nigeria that it can become clear who qualifies (for which we need) to make amends and produce the right form.”
