Guardian Nigeria
Injury hits Bafana Bafana squad
The Super Eagles became one of the first major casualties of the nationwide strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday, as it stopped star forward, Ademola Lookman and seven others from joining the team’s camp in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The players, who arrived in the country at the weekend, were unable to fly to the team’s camp in Uyo because of the NLC strike, which stalled domestic flights nationwide.
Also caught in the web are Maduka Okoye, Semi Ajayi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Calvin Bassey, Frank Onyeka, Alex Iwobi and Paul Onuachu. While three of the players in Abuja and two in Lagos are being expected at the team’s Ibom Hotel and Resorts today, the trio of midfielder Alex Iwobi, goalkeeper Maduka Okoye and forward Ademola Lookman are expected to arrive in the country today.There was no training session yesterday’s evening, as the players countenance intensive sessions today, tomorrow and Thursday, hopefully with a full house.
In his first comments after assessing his squad’s fitness for Friday’s clash with South Africa, Super Eagles head coach, Finidi George, assured Nigerians that his team has what it takes to beat the Bafana Bafana.
The Super Eagles, who failed to make the party at the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar, are in a dangerous position in the race to the 2026 showpiece to be co-hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico. Nigeria, with just two points from two games, sit in the third position in Group C behind Rwanda (four points) and South Africa (three points).
The poor start to the campaign notwithstanding, Finidi said the Eagles would change the story by beating South Africa and Benin Republic.
“We have started our journey, and I believe we have players who are capable of doing the job. Nigerians don’t need to panic about South Africa. We will take it one game at a time. All we need now is the support of all Nigerians,” he said.
The delegation of Bafana Bafana is expected to arrive in Nigeria tomorrow, with the team already booked into Four Points By Sheraton Hotel in Ikot Ekpene.
Meanwhile, with just a few days before the crucial game against Nigeria, the camp of Bafana Bafana has suffered a major injury blow with one of their star players ruled out of the game.
The team resumed full training under Hugo Broos yesterday, and midfielder Grant Kekana has been ruled out by injury. Kekana, who was one of the key players for Bafana at the 2023 African Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, has been replaced by Given Msimango.
