Julius Okorie
Super Eagles Coach, Eric Chelle, who doubles as ‘General overseer’ of all national teams, has paid a visit to the training camp of Flying Eagles in Ikenne Remo, Ogun State.
Chelle, just back from European tour, where he rubbed minds with a number of foreign based Super Eagles players, ahead of next month’s double header World Cup Qualifiers, gave the young lads in camp a little pep talk to help fire them as they prepare for the U20 AFCON in Cote d Ivoire.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelDuring his visit, the former Mali Coach, observed training sessions and engaged with the Under-20 squad, offering encouraging words. Recall that Flying Eagles head coach, Aliyu Zubairu, had earlier called up 30 players to the camp in preparation for the tournament, which will take place from April 26 to May 18.
The Flying Eagles are drawn in Group B, where they will battle Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa, to secure one of four available spots for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Chile this September.
Chelle’s visit to the flying Eagles camp will be followed by a planned visit to some match venues in the Nigerian Premier league, where the Coach is expected to watch some action with a view to identifying league players that can be infused into the team in the course of the qualifiers.
Visit to local league matches is in line with Nigeria Football Federation’s strategic objective to integrate more home-based players into the senior national team.
The Super Eagles will kick off their qualifying campaign against Rwanda, in Kigali, on March 21, followed by a home match against Zimbabwe, at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, in Uyo four days later.
The team’s focus is on a successful return to the World Cup stage after missing the opportunity in Qatar 2022.
Meanwhile, Super Eagles midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi and his Leicester City teammates, saw their efforts at returning to winning ways in the English Premier league crash like a pack of cards on Friday.
The Foxes suffered a massive 4-0 demolition in the hands of visiting Brentford at the King Power Stadium. Brentford who shot into the lead in the 17th minute thanks to Congo DR international Yoane Wissa, had gone three goals up by the end of the first 45 minutes.
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Fábio Carvalho grabbed the fourth and final goal for the visitors with the homers looking like spectators in what should have been their own party. Ndidi was in action for 77 minutes before being replaced Oliver Skipp.
Prior to the 4-0 thrashing, the Foxes had only managed a win in their last five matches, conceding 11 goals and scoring only three.
With the latest development, the Foxes now have a record of just one win in six matches accumulating only 17 points in 26 matches played so far, scoring three goals and conceding 15.
It remains to be seen whether Leicester City who are battling relegation alongside Ipswich Town and Southampton can survive the challenge.
Recall that Ndidi, a regular for the Eagles, was one of the players visited by Chelle, ahead of the qualifiers. The others include Fulham’s Alex Iwobi and Nantes forward, Moses Simon.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
