*Insists Eagles will not under-rate Wild Dogs in the race for early consolidation
Duro Ikhazuagbe
Super Eagles Head Coach, Eric Chelle, may be forced to improvise when Nigeria take on Guinea-Bissau’s Djurtus (Wild Dogs) on Day-two of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in Bissau this evening.
Following the knocks received by new boy, George Ilenikhena, Chelle may be forced to look in the direction of either Moses Usor or Tolu Arokodare in his starting line up.
There are now doubts that one-cap Ilenikhena may miss the clash with Guinea-Bissau today.
Before leaving Uyo on Sunday, Ilenikhena who scored on his debut game for Nigeria on Friday and Akor Adams trained separately, meaning both forwards are facing a fitness race ahead of the Guinea-Bissau clash.
In the absence of injured Victor Osimhen, the situation becomes significant because Adams started alongside Ilenikhena against Madagascar.
Chelle may now be forced to turn to Tolu Arokodare and Taiwo Awoniyi as possible options for Eagles forward in the starting line up this evening.
Moses Usor has also given Chelle another option after making an immediate impact against Madagascar. The forward came off the bench to score Nigeria’s winning goal and could now be considered for a starting role.
Meanwhile, Head Coach Éric Chelle has declared that three-time African champions Nigeria will take nothing for granted when they confront the host country.
Speaking at Monday’s pre-match press conference in Bissau, the Super Eagles coach insisted that Nigeria respect Guinea-Bissau as a strong team.
“We respect them because they are a strong team; I have followed their progress over the years. They also won away in Tanzania on Friday and will be confident playing on home ground on Tuesday (today).
“Our objective is to take the three points, and to do that, we must approach the game with a strong mentality. We have to be at our best to earn victory,” observed Chelle.
Mama Baldé is particularly worth watching after scoring against Tanzania and having previously scored the winning goal against Nigeria in Abuja in 2023 AFCON qualifier.
Over the past four meetings between both sides, Nigeria have won three, while the Wild Dogs have just one victory.
All but one of those games ended in a 2-0 scoreline (Nigeria’s win in 2022). Since then, the scoreline has been 1-0, highlighting that this fixture has always been a low-scoring affair.
The Franco-Malian refused to dwell on the poor state of the pitch of the 24 September Stadium in Bissau, stressing that his team will make the best of the terrain for the 90 minutes.
For 65 minutes yesterday evening, the Super Eagles had their official training at the match venue, under a light shower of rain, with all 24 invited players involved in the session.
SUPER EAGLES IN BISSAU
Goalkeepers: Arthur Okonkwo (Charlton Athletic, England); Maduka Okoye (Udinese Calcio, Italy); Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa)
Defenders: Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece); Isaac James (Alverca FC, Portugal); Benjamin Fredricks (Brentford FC, England); Emmanuel Fernandez (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Hull City, England); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Chibuike Nwaiwu (Trabzonspor FC, Turkey); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham FC, England); Olaoluwa Aina (Nottingham Forest, England)
Midfielders: Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey); Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Raphael Onyedika (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany); Frank Onyeka (Coventry City, England)
Forwards: Moses Simon (Paris FC, France); Taiwo Awoniyi (Coventry City, England); Akor Adams (Venezia FC, Italy); Samuel Chukwueze (AC Milan, Italy); Ademola Lookman (Atletico Madrid, Spain); Tolu Arokodare (Ajax FC, The Netherlands); George Ilenikhena (Al Ittihad, Saudi Arabia); Moses Usor (LASK).
TODAY
AFCON 2027
Comoros v Namibia
Burundi v Algeria
Ethiopia v Senegal
Lesotho v Morocco
Madagascar v Tanzania
Mozambique v Sudan
S’Sudan v Egypt
Cape Verde v Rwanda
Ghana v Gambia
G’Bissau v Nigeria
Uganda v Libya
Zambia v Togo
Benin v Mauritania
Congo v Cameroon
Gabon v Niger
Liberia v Mali
Somalia v I’Coast
UEFA Nations League
Czech v England
Spain v Croatia
Scotland v Switzerland
Slovenia v N’Macedonia
Finland v Belarus
Bulgaria v Estonia