BEVERLY HILLS, March 30, (THEWILL) – Glad tidings have hit the senior men’s national football team of Nigeria, as the confirmation results of the initial test for COVID-19 on Alex Iwobi have returned negative.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) broke the cheery news through their official Twitter handle some moments ago.
THEWILL recalls that Iwobi was originally in the starting line-up for the successful tie against the Squirrels of Benin; but he had to be replaced at the last minute, when news of his COVID-19 positive result broke, just before the team headed to the stadium.
However, his positive result was viewed with suspicion by the Nigerian team who sought a second medical confirmation on their own as validation.
Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr had to replace the winger, who plays for the English Premier League side Everton, with Henry Onyekuru, who is on a third loan stint with the Turkish team Galatasaray from his parent Ligue 1 side Monaco, in the game that ended 1-0 in favour of the Super Eagles.
Iwobi immediately entered self-isolation, when informed of the test result, abiding by health and safety protocols around COVID-19 regulations, with the implications being that he was going to miss the final two qualifying matches of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) group stages.
However, the good news of his new negative result means the 24-year-old, who was one of Nigeria’s goal scorers in the first leg at the Setsoto Stadium in Lesotho on Sunday, November 17, 2019, has the opportunity of doing the same against Lesotho at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Tuesday
Announcing the results of further tests carried out on Iwobi on Tuesday morning, the Twitter account of the NFF posted: “Update: @NGSuperEagles forward, @alexiwobi has tested negative after further COVID-19 tests were conducted.”
Although the tweet did not indicate if Iwobi will therefore be in the squad to face Lesotho when the match kicks off at 5pm, local time, if the words of Rohr (in his remarks after the team’s last training session on Monday night) are any indications, the star player might return to take his spot in place of Onyekuru.
Rohr had said: “So, Alex Iwobi, if he’s negative, he can play, if not, we will play again this Henry [Onyekuru] on the left side, like we did the other day.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
