…as 22 players train, Umar missing

Super Eagles’ standin coach, Austin Eguavoen, has said the team is positive going into the clash against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic.

Speaking in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, the adopted home of the Benin Republic, the former international said the players are already getting set for the game with only one player, Sadiq Umar, still being expected.

“We have 22 players, with only one person to join the team in the early hours of Wednesday. It has been a particularly great atmosphere here in Abidjan, and we are all very positive going into the first training session ahead of the match,” Eguavoen told thenff.com yesterday In the same vein, the captain of the team, Williams Troost-Ekong, said they are already familiar with the Stade Felix HouphouetBoigny, the facility where they upended the aspirations of Guinea Bissau, Cameroon and Angola at the 34th Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cote d’Ivoire earlier in the year.

The team however lost 2-1 to the Cheetahs in one of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying games in which they scored first. Troost-Ekong said: “The stadium is a familiar one for us and we have good memories from the AFCON.

We will rather focus on the positive results we have taken away from here and work hard for another good day in the office on Thursday. “It is not going to be easy because the Beninoise are al chasing a ticket to the final tournament. However, our objective is clear: three points on the night.”