By Victor Kanayo
Five Nigeria’s Super Eagles who were initially stranded in Lagos after jetting in from their various club sides arrived Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital on Tuesday, same day the Organised Labour suspended their strike.
Confirming the latest development, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) told Heritage Times HT that defenders Semi Ajayi, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Calvin Bassey, alongside midfielder Frank Onyeka and forward Paul Onuachu landed at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo aboard a private jet and were driven to the team’s Ibom Hotel and Resorts to meet up with team mates in time for lunch.
The arrival of the quintet brought the tally of players in camp to 20, three days to the Day 3 qualifying battle with the Bafana Bafana at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium.
Nigeria and South Africa go toe-to-toe in a rematch of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations first semi-final, which the Super Eagles trumped 4-2 after a penalty shootout at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake.
Three-time African champions Nigeria, who have reached the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup on three occasions, missed out on the last houseparty in Qatar, and after a sluggish start to the qualifiers, need all three points on offer to be in strong contention for the only ticket from Group C as the campaign drags on.
Rwanda are surprise leaders of the pool after two matchdays, on four points, with South Africa on three and Nigeria on two.
The 10-match series will end in October next year, with winners of the nine groups qualifying automatically for the finals in Canada, USA and Mexico.
The best four second-placed teams in all nine groups will contest a CAF Play-off Tournament, with the winner going ahead to contest a FIFA Play-off Tournament for another slot.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian senior National team are expected to wear a new Jersey design which Nike unveiled few days ago.
