By Victor Kanayo
Nigeria’s Super Eagles have arrived in Oran ahead of Tuesday’s international friendly against the Desert Foxes of Algeria.
The match is scheduled to kickoff 8pm at Stade Olympique d’Oran, Bir El Djir, Heritage Times HT reports.
The team spent the last week in the Algerian city of Constantine, where they were forced to a 2-2 draw by Algeria B in a practice match, which took place behind closed doors on the new lawn of the Chahid Stadium on Friday September 23, 2022.
Jose Peseiro will once again not have the full complement of several key players, with Wilfred Ndidi, William Troost-Ekong, Joe Aribo, Leon Balogun, Semi Ajayi, Victor Osimhen, and Henry Onyekuru unavailable.
The hosts are in full force, with the exception of Saudi Arabian-based defender Abdelkader Bedrane, who left the camp after his injury, a sprained knee which occurred on Friday evening during the confrontation against Guinea, which they won 1-0.
Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong was the latest player to pull out of the tie, having left camp as a result of an injury that cropped during the test game against Algeria B. He is back at Watford for further checks.
Algeria gained the upper hand in the last three consecutive confrontations between both countries.
Nigeria are looking forward to a reversal of fortunes this term, but the three-time African champions don’t look in the right frame to achieve that feat.
The Desert Warriors returned to training on Sunday after their narrow win over Guinea on the annex field (athletics) of the Miloud Hadefi Stadium in Oran, where coach set the tone by gathering his players for a chat before kicking off the session, which began with juggling, followed by technical workshops with and without a ball.
Meanwhile, Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi will on Tuesday night win his 60th Super Eagles cap against Algeria in Oran.
The 26-year-old Iwobi made his Eagles debut on October 8, 2015, in a 2-1with win over hosts Zambia in a World Cup qualifier.
He marked his debut with an assist for a goal by Kelechi Iheanacho.
It was coach Sunday Oliseh who gave him his Eagles start.
Iwobi has so far scored 11 goals for Nigeria after he featured for England at U16, U17 and U18 levels.
