By Victor Kanayo
When Nigeria’s Super Eagles face the Mambas of Mozambique on Monday October 16, 2023 in an international friendly match, two key players – Victor Osimhen and Kelechi Iheanacho will not be featured.
This was confirmed by Nigerian Coach Jose Peseiro who spoke via a statement by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Sunday.
Reasons For Absence
While Osimhen picked up a hamstring injury during Friday’s test game against the Green Falcons of Saudi Arabia, Iheanacho who changed the tenor of the game and netted a spectacular second goal against the Arab Champions is said to have left the team’s camp to attend to personal issues.
Yet, Peseiro is bullish ahead of the encounter, insisting he has a clutch of forwards who can send packing the southern Africans in their only fifth-ever clash with Nigeria at senior level.
Available Options For Peseiro
In the absence of Iheanacho and Osimhen, Peseiro will have to cast his lot with Terem Moffi, Victor Boniface, Samuel Chukwueze, Sadiq Umar and Moses Simon, and hope that Alex Iwobi comes to the party in his playmaking role to supply ammunition to the forwards.
Defenders Kenneth Omeruo, Jordan Torunarigha and Chidozie Awaziem, and midfielders Frank Onyeka, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Raphael Onyedika did not taste action against the Saudis, and could prove to be Peseiro’s aces against the Mambas at the Estadio Municipal de Portimäo on Monday.
Nigeria and Mozambique have met four times at senior level, with the Super Eagles winning a friendly match in Maputo by a lone goal, before home-and-away 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches that remain fresh in the memory till this day.
Next Stop For Super Eagles
After conceding a last-minute goal that tied their encounter with Saudi Arabia 2-2 in Portimäo on Friday, the Super Eagles are determined to earn a win over the Mambas of Mozambique on Monday in order to have a positive mindset ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Lesotho and Zimbabwe next month.
The clash with the Mambas is the last gathering for the three-time African champions before the race to the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins, in which they host the Crocodiles of Lesotho and then fly to play Zimbabwe’s Warriors away, all within a few days in November.
Mambas’ forward ‘Tico Tico’ Bucuane proved a thorn in Nigeria’s flesh in the first encounter in Maputo that ended scoreless.
At the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja in October 2009, it was heading to another 0-0 scoreline before Yusuf Ayila valiantly rescued an outbound ball that landed on the head of Victor Obinna Nsofor for the only goal of the match. Had the match ended 0-0, Nigeria would have been eliminated from the race to the first FIFA World Cup on African soil.
Few months later, at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Angola, the Eagles spanked the Mambas 3-0 in Lubango to qualify for the tournament’s quarter finals.
