AFCON 2019: Eagles to play Zimbabwe, Senegal in friendlies

LAGOS, Nigeria – Nigeria will square up to Zimbabwe and Senegal in pre-AFCON 2019 friendly matches in the month of June,thenff.com can confirm. The three –time African champions will open camp in Asaba, capital of Delta State on 2nd June, ahead of the clash with the Warriors of Zimbabwe at the Stephen Keshi Stadium on Saturday, 8th June.

 Zimbabwe, who have in their ranks globally –acknowledged talents Knowledge Musona and Kharma Billiat, finished top of a qualifying group that included two-time African champions, Democratic Republic of Congo, a resurgent Liberia and 1972 AFCON winners, Congo Brazzaville. The day after the match with the Warriors, the Super Eagles delegation will depart Asaba aboard a chartered flight for Ismailia, Egypt where they will set up a final training camp.

On Sunday, 16th June, the Eagles will file out against Africa’s number one –ranked team, Senegal at the Ismailia Stadium in their final tune –up game. This is a match to look forward to, between Africa’s number one and number three –ranked teams, just few days to the kick –off of the 32nd Africa Cup of Nations.

President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Melvin Pinnick said on Thursday: “We have sealed the matches with the Warriors of Zimbabwe and the Lions of Teranga and these are two matches we are really looking forward to. There cannot possibly be a better way to get into the AFCON spirit than playing the number one –ranked team in Africa just before the finals begin.”

 His Senegalese counterpart, Augustine Senghor, stated: “We shall only have one friendly match against Nigeria as we prepare for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.”

 Apart from being Africa’s number one –ranked team, the Lions of Teranga have in their ranks the revered Liverpool FC of England pointman Sadio Mane. They come up against a Nigeria side also brimming with talent, depth and creativity. The day after the clash with Senegal, the Super Eagles’ delegation will move to Alexandria, venue of their Group B games. They take on Burundi on 22nd June, tackle Guinea on 26th June and confront Madagascar on 30th June.

La Liga Eaglets thrill NFF

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is thrilled by the progress of some players discovered at the 2017 NPFL/ La Liga U15 Tournament into the Golden Eaglets team that came fourth in the just concluded Africa U17 Cup of Nations in Tanzania.
                                                                                          
This was disclosed by Mallam Shehu Dikko, the 2nd Vice President of the NFF and Chairman of League Management Company, who added that the partnership between the LMC and La Liga is to create platforms that will develop Nigerian young players into playing for NPFL clubs, national teams like the U17, U20, U23, the Super Eagles and possibly for clubs abroad. He stated that the Federation is satisfied with the trio of Akinkunmi Amoo, Olakunle Olusegun and Shedrack Tanko that featured for the Eaglets at the cadet AFCON. 

“We are happy that some of the players that featured at the first edition of NPFL/La Liga U15 tournament are already making progress. Some of them are in the U17 National Team and it shows that the players are developing and taking their game to the next level. We want to have more players progress to the next level of their careers,” Dikko told thenff.com.

“We are also interested in seeing these players feature for some NPFL clubs as well. We want to see these players progress to play for U17, U20, U23 and in the Super Eagles. If we are consistently doing this, the future of Nigeria football is very bright.

“That is the plan all over the world. You can see players developing at the UEFA U21 Champions League and Premier League U21 and the LMC started with U15, hoping that in the future, we will move to other age levels with our partnership with La Liga,” he said.