W/C Playoff: 18 players arrive Super Eagles camp ahead of Ghana clash

Ahead Nigeria’s World Cup playoff encounter with Ghana on Friday, 18 players have arrived at the Super Eagles camp, with eight more expected.

The new arrivals are Kenneth Omeruo, Emmanuel Dennis, Jo Aribo, Calvin Bassey and new invitee, Innocent Bonke.

Kelechi Iheanacho, Leicester City forward, defenders Leon Balogun, Semi Ajayi, Shehu Abdullahi and Ola Aina, midfielder Frank Onyeka and goalkeepers Francis Uzoho and Daniel Akpeyi arrived on Monday.

Others are captain Ahmed Musa, Saudi Arabia-based striker Odion Ighalo and Watford trio William Troost-Ekong, and Oghenekaro Etebo, who were the first players to arrive at the camp on Monday morning.

Eagles interim coach Austin Eguavoen had released a provisional list of 32 players, with 25 on the main list, while seven more were placed on standby. The 25-man main list is expected to be pruned to 23 before the qualifiers.

It is still unclear if newly invited Ademola Lookman will be available for the encounter, having missed Leicester’s 2-1 win over Brentford due to illness on Sunday, with his club teammate Iheanacho arriving camp without him.

Another Leicester player Wilfred Ndidi had already been replaced by Lorient’s Innocent Bonke, after the Foxes midfielder suffered a knee injury last week.

The camp opens in Abuja on 21st March, with a 24 –man final list for the two big games to be released at a later date.

Nigeria will take on Ghana in the 20,000 –capacity Cape Coast Sports Stadium as from 7.30pm on Friday 25th March, with the reverse leg set for the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Tuesday, 29th March as from 6pm. The winner over two legs will earn one of Africa’s five tickets to the 22nd FIFA World Cup finals, scheduled for 14th November – 18th December this year in Qatar.

Meanwhile, Ghana on Tuesday, named a 27-man squad for the encounter.

The team includes top stars like the in form Arsenal FC midfielder, Thomas Partey; AS Roma rising star, Felix Afena Gyan; Crystal Palace forward, Jordan Ayew, among others.

The unveiling of the list comes after mixed reactions trailed the delay, with some Ghanians suggesting it was part of their tactics to keep the technical team of the Super Eagles in the dark, and to hopefully spring a surprise on matchday.

Ghana squad list

A notable absentee on the list of the Otto Addo coached side, is Captain Andre Ayew who is serving a suspension from this year’s AFCON.

He got red carded in the last group game where they lost to debutants Comoros.

A statement on Ghana’s Football Association website reads, “Coach Otto Addo has named a 27 man squad for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 play offs against Nigeria.

“The Back Stars will take on the Super Eagles in two matches scheduled for Kumasi and Abuja respectively as the search for a ticket to November’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar heats up.

“Ghana will host the 1st leg at the Baba Yara Sports stadium on Friday, March 25 before travelling to Abuja for the 2nd leg on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.