Only two players from the invited 23 are yet to arrive at the Super Eagles camp in Uyo for this weekend’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Tanzania.
The expected duo are Carl Ikeme and Kingsley Madu who team officials assured will be in later today.
It is yet unclear whether the late arrival will cost the two players a place in the final team that would be selected for Saturday’s dead rubber clash with the Taifa Stars.
The Super Eagles began life under new Technical adviser Gernot Rohr with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side, Akwa United at the Godswill Akpabio stadium on Wednesday.
Brown Ideye, Nosa Igiebor and Watford striker Odion Ighalo were the goals’ scorers for the Eagles team that have announced that they will be observing a close-door training session on Thursday.
As explained by officials, the Eagles more than anything will be using the inconsequential game against Tanzania to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers starting next month away to Zambia.
On their part, the Tanzania team are expected in Nigeria today (Thursday) and they are hoping to improve on their FIFA rankings by posting a good result against the Super Eagles.
Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) information and communications officer, Alfred Lucas, confirmed their planned arrival plans and FIFA ranking improvement mission.
“The team will leave on Wednesday night and will arrive in Lagos on Thursday. If all goes well, Samatta will also arrive there on the same day,” he told the local media in Dar Es Salam.
“This is a dead rubber, but the coach (Charles Mkwasa) will not take lightly. A win over Nigeria, who are far above Stars in the Fifa rankings, will certainly earn us many points.
“We aren’t going there to play and lose; we want a positive result because it will help us in the next release of the Fifa rankings.”
While Nigeria are ranked 67th in the world , Tanzania are occupying the 124th spot.
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