Premier League duo Mikel Obi and Ahmed Musa arrived at the Super Eagles’ Abuja camp from England on Tuesday ahead of Sunday’s Group B Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier against Zambia at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.
Meanwhile, Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has told the Eagles they must give everything for victory against Chipolopolo in the Russia 2018 qualifying opener. Other teams in the group considered “Group of Death” are Cameroon and Algeria.
“No small team in our group, we saw the Zambians against Kenya and they will not be pushovers on Sunday. We are going there to give a good account of ourselves,” Rohr told reporters after training on Tuesday.
Mikel, who has yet to play a match for Chelsea this season, arrived early in the morning, while Leicester City attacker Musa arrived in the afternoon.
Manchester City’s wonderkid Kelechi Iheanacho and rising Arsenal star Alex Iwobi had arrived in the country on Monday night.
According to spokesman for the Nigeria Football Federation, Ademola Olajire, Greece-based forward Brown Ideye also reported to camp on Tuesday. Olajire also confirmed the arrival of the Nigerian Premier League top scorer Godwin Obaje at the camp.
The Wikki Tourists forward scored 18 goals to emerge as the domestic league top scorer.
With the trio’s arrival, Rohr is guaranteed a full house (23 players) for training ahead of the team’s departure to Zambia on Saturday.
Mikel, Musa Iheanacho, Ideye, Iwobi and Obaje trained with the team on Tuesday evening. Others are Trabzonspor midfielder Ogenyi Onazi, Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Carl Ikeme, Kingsley Madu, Musa Muhammed, Emmanuel Daniel, Ikechukwu Ezenwa and Monaco defender Elderson Echiejile.
The rest are Maccabi Tel Aviv playmaker Nosa Igiebor, Abdullahi Shehu, William Ekong, Kenneth Omeruo, Anderson Esiti, Jamiu Alimi, Wilfred Ndidi, 2016 Nigerian Premier League winner Chisom Egbuchunam, Uche Agbo and Moses Simon.
Assistant coaches Salisu Yusuf, Imama Amapakabo and Alloy Agu, as well as Rohr’s technical assistant Jean Luc Royer and video analyst Nabil Trabelsi were also on the training ground.
The NFF confirmed on Tuesday that the Eagles would play Premier League side Plateau United in a friendly affair at the National Stadium in Abuja on Wednesday evening.
Rohr insisted the Eagles were ready for a tough time at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, saying reports from Zambia had confirmed the pitch was in bad shape.
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