Nigeria’s opponents in this month’s penultimate match of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Benin Republic a currently harbouring fears over the possibility of lining out with a half-strength squad in the game on March 27th, megasportsarena.com reports.
This is sequel to international travel restrictions imposed by most European countries in their efforts to curtail the spread of coronavirus, thereby casting doubts over the chances of most Beninoise foreign-based players turning up for the game in Porto Novo.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles will open camp on March 22 in Lagos before flying out to the neighboring country on the 26th, but they may jolly well end up playing against a depleted squad in a game they need just a draw to qualify for Cameroon 2022.
Benin will hope to get their own pound of flesh back aganst the Eagles, as they lost the first leg 2-1, following goals by from Victor Osimhen and Samuel Kalu i their opening game of Group L at Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
However, with few days to go before both sides are expected to name their squads for the upcoming encounter, Benin’s French coach, Michel Dussuyer will reportedly make his list public next week Tuesday, but the local media noted it will come amid serious fears he may not have several of his foreign-based stars available for the game.
A report by Gaskiyani Info summarized the worries thus: “Michel Dussuyer will be in Cotonou on March 15. 24 hours later, more precisely on March 16, the French technician will announce his list at 4.30pm in the conference room of the Ministry of Sports. Only one question for the moment torments the spirits – Given the scale of Covid 19, will all Benin internationals be there?”
