BEVERLY HILLS, May 14, (THEWILL) – With the COVID-19 enforced postponements of the World Cup qualifiers that were originally scheduled to kickoff in the next international window but were moved by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), working in collaboration with FIFA, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has gone to work to organise friendly matches to fill the void for the men’s national football team, the Super Eagles.
It is a demonstration of the commitment of , who has not been reticent about his desire to see the national football teams, of men and women, constantly engage in grade A friendly matches that will further enhance the quality of these teams and their coaching crew while improving the nation’s ranking both globally and on the continent.
To this end, Pinnick, who is also a member of FIFA’s Executive Council, said the Gernot Rohr-led Eagles will be fully busy in the coming month of June, when the international break window opens.
“We want to keep the Super Eagles busy in this coming next month knowing fully well [the] bulk of the leagues in Europe would have come to an end and after they rest a while, they should engage in top grade friendly in order to keep the boys in better shape ahead of world Cup qualifiers which is crucial for us as a nation.
“It has always been our philosophy to get grade A friendly for the Super Eagles of Nigeria. If you look at our track records we always get friendly matches that can put the team in shape and for cohesion of the team and the forthcoming one is not an exception.”
THEWILL recalls that the men’s team recently qualified for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon and, based on the postponed qualifiers, will wait for the September international break to commence qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The thinking of the NFF President is that with top shelf friendly matches, the Super Eagles will have done the solid preparation to give them a strong footing, team cohesion and improved tactics to successfully prosecute the qualification series in Group C against other group teams from Cape Verde, Liberia and the Central African Republic.
“There have been good and quality preparations so far and I think we’ve got quality young lads in the team. Hopefully the next African Cup of Nations might just be the time for the Super Eagles to have a podium performance again.”
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.
