The Nigeria U23 will on Wednesday take on Guinea in the U23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers first leg game in Abuja before travelling two days later for the return leg in Conakry.
Already the Nigerian team have been training at their camp in Abuja in readiness for the game which is the final hurdle to seal a spot at the U23 Africa Cup of Nations. However it hasn’t been the best of preparations for a game of such importance.
From the initial invitation of players where 16 out of the 30 players were found out to be above the age to the disgraceful list of foreign based players called up to beef up the team. They are also going to be without the services of some of their technical staff.
One of the assistant coaches in the team Fidelis Ilechukwu has been told not to report to the camp of the team for the games. The Plateau United coach was with the team for the last round of qualifiers where they defeated Tanzania.
Also, the coordinator of the team Bashir Badawiy has also left his role and we gathered both decisions were taken by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as part of the measures to cut cost. The same measure has been taken with all national teams by the Ibrahim Musa Gusau led board of the NFF.
Osas Mahawi
