Injury threatens Nigeria’s World Cup dream...
By Edem,
AHEAD of the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Nigeria and Algeria, there are fears that three Super Eagles players; defender Leon Balogun, midfielder Abdulahi Shehu and striker, Brown Ideye may not feature in the match due to various degree of injuries they sustained from their respective clubs in Europe.
The trio who were part of the 20 players in camp on Tuesday, were not part of the light training at the Practice Pitch of the Abuja National Stadium as they sat down while their compatriots trained under the watchful eyes of Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr. But speaking to Sports Vanguard after the training yesterday, Rohr said he was optimistic that the three players will be fit to be part of the encounter which will take place this Saturday at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital
The German-born tactician also expressed his confidence that the team will get the desired result from the number one-rated African country; even as he cautioned that the game will not be a walk in the park for the Super Eagles.
“We are all in good spirit; the 20 players in camp are all ready to go and by this night (yesterday), the remaining three players who have been delayed by flights will be with us. We have just had a light work-out and on Wednesday will continue with the training, hopefully, with the full complement of the team.
“We have three small injuries but that is not frightening, Balogun has a knee knock while Brown and Shehu have ankle issues but I hope that by tomorrow (today) they will be fit. We are going to play against the number one team in Africa so we must be very careful with the game. You must agree that with the first draw they had against Cameroon, they will surely want to win here but we will not allow that to happen.”
The three players still expected were goalkeeper, Dele Alampasu, defender, Elderson Echejile and midfielder, Oghenekaro Etebo.
