Arrangements have been made for the Super Eagles of Nigeria to play FIFA’s highest ranked African team, the Teranga Lions of Senegal in Ismailia, Egypt on June 16.
According to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick, all plans have been concluded to fly the players and coaches to Egypt aboard a charter airline for the match.
Pinnick also revealed that the federation had no plans to give coach Gernot Rohr and the players any target at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations holding in Egypt from June 21 to July 19, insisting that such directives put more pressure on them.
“Based on my experience as the Executive Chairman of the Delta State Sports Commission (DSSC), I discovered that such targets make the coaches and players panic,” Pinnick said.
“Instead, I prefer a systematic plan to ensure that the team is given everything it requires to excel. With a better-prepared squad, anything can happen when the games begin.”
Commenting on the Flying Eagles uninspiring campaign at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the NFF chief insists that they are more concerned with discovering new talents who could replace ageing and off-form players in the Super Eagles.
”I cannot sit here and criticise the Flying Eagles’ performance. For us a federation, it is important to state here that the FIFA U-17 and U-20 World Cups are developmental competitions meant essentially to discover new players.
“I can tell you that already the Flying Eagles left wing back (Ikouwem) fits the bill of being one of the new players we can further groom to play in the Super Eagles by next year.”
Nigeria are in Group B of the 2019 AFCON alongside Burundi, Guinea and Madagascar.
