Enyimba Defender Nabil Yarou and Paris Saint-Germain star Colin Dagba have been named in the Squirrels of Benin Republic squad for this month’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Nigeria, reports Completesports.com.
The encounter will take place on Saturday, March 27 at the Stade Charles de Gaulle, Porto Novo .
Stade Brest of France forward Steve Mounie, Rudy Gestede, who plays for Australian club Melbourne and and Arminia Beilefeld’s Cebio Soukou are some of the key stars in the squad.
The Squirrels lost to 2-1 to the Super Eagles on matchday one and will be keen to avenge the defeat and also boost their hopes of securing a place in Cameroon 2021.
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FULL SQUAD
Goalkeepers
Saturnin Allagbé (Dijon, France), Hariston Hessou (Bahir Dar, Ethopia), Marcel Dandjinou (JDR Stars FC, South Africa)
Defenders
Khaled Adénon (US Avranches, France), Youssouf Assogba (Amiens SC, France), Cédric Hountondji (Clermont Foot, France), David Kiki (PFC Montana, Bulgaria), Olivier Verdon (Ludogorets Razgrad, Bulgaria), Emmanuel Imorou (évian, France), Nabyl Yarou (Enyimba, Nigeria), Collins Dagba (PSG, France)
Midfielders
Sessi d ‘Almeida (Valenciennes FC, France), Jérôme Bonou (Djoliba, Mali), Jordan Adéoti (Annecy FC, France), Rodrigue Cossi (Club Africain, Tunisia), Anaane Tidjani (Menemen Spor, Turkey), Cébio Soukou (Arminia Bielefeld, Germany), Jodel Dossou (Clermont Foot, France)
Forwards
Mickael Pote (Bandirmaspor, Turkey), Marcellin Koukpo (CR Belouizdad, Algeria), Jacques Bessan (Olympique Beja, Tunisia), Rudy Gestede (Melbourne, Australia), Steve Mounié ( Stade Brest 29, France)
24 Comments
None of the players are based in Benin.Food for thought to Sunday Dare and those agitating for quota system in the Super Eagles.
So Benin should be a template for us to follow. Home base or abroad, if a player is good,he is good..
@Cardinal,if a player is good then he is good,and it will be glaring for all to see.Not keeping slots for some players because you want to “build their confidence”. A local based player can still play himself/herself to reckoning.CHAN and CAF champions league is there to showcase and “build their confidence”.The likes of Enyeama and Amuneke were played African version of the champions league and were a force to be reckoned with in their days.
But they have a player from enyimba
Yes. It foreign player not home base
Haaaa! African Real Madrid
@Cardinal,if a player is good then he is good,and it will be glaring for all to see.Not keeping slots for some players to “build their confidence”. A local based player can still play himself/herself to reckoning.CHAN and CAF champions league is there to showcase and “build their confidence”.The likes of Enyeama and Amuneke were played African version of the champions league and were a force to be reckoned with in their days.
The likes of Enyeama and Amuneke played African version*
Even BENIN REPUBLIC refuse to invite players from their local clubs yet a self-acclaim giant of africa want not less than 4 slot for their home base….
I was expecting atleast 5 to 6 names of players plying their trade in BENIN to be included but i can only see players from algeria, tunisia and one ethiopian league player.
Does it mean BENIN don’t want to promote their league…..
::::SHALOM:::::
And one of their best players plays in our league, whom isn’t a first choice in enyimba,he is below nelson ogbonnaya.Am against allocation of quota to home base players base on sentiment, my own is when you see a home based player that is good enough, why not invite him and not judge base on overall team performance.
@UBFE this your garbage reasoning is becoming something else, we should seek directions from Benin you don high o, so what then will you talk about Egypt and other north africa countries whose dependence are composed of home based and foreign. The only reason i will not advocate for our home based to be included now on our roster is because of the low standard of league we have today. But to say because of Benin is really senseless honestly. I keep saying it most of you guys need proper exposure to help your thinking.
I honestly want Nigeria to loose, so we can do away with Rohr.
Hypocrite. This is simply unnecessary enemity against Rohr. The African greatest undoing is treacherous attitude
I wonder what rohr will say if he is the coach of this Benin squad. Am waiting for him to come and tell us they have a solid team,.with player from enyimba.then our team is average.
The opponents of Nigeria for the make-or-break Cup of Nations qualifier have released their squad for the encounter and it signals a statement of intent.
The Beninois FA this week released a list of 23 players drawn from foreign leagues who are expected to knock the stuffing out of Nigeria’s Cup of Nations intentions.
What makes me laugh is that old-cargo Omotoyossi, who has been blabbering about how they will whitewash Nigeria, was ignominiously excluded.
If he needs a reminder that his national team days are well behind him, his omission from this squad should drill it home. Just like Nigeria, Benin Republic has a pool of young and vibrant indigenous and dual nationality players to draw from.
Even as an opposing fan, the Squirrels’ squad looks tantalising indeed.
No less than 10 of the players play in reputable division 1 and 2 leagues across Europe. You have 2 based in Bulgaria, 1 from Australia (he used to play in the English Premier League) the others based in decent African leagues.
It is not a poor squad.
There was a time when Benin saw themselves as second fiddle to Nigeria in international football however, their confidence has risen in recent seasons so much so they almost caused an upset in Nigeria in the first leg.
It took the individual brilliance of Samuel Kalu and a penalty kick for the Super Eagles to overcome an earlier scare and eventually win 2:1.
But now they want their revenge for that loss and none other than omitted outsider Omotoyossi has been talking up his team’s chances, again.
“A win is what we are pushing for and it is possible,” said Omotoyossi according to owngoalnigeria.com. “We started well in the reverse fixture by scoring first before Nigeria’s 2 goals gave them a 2:1 win.”
The Super Eagles can’t afford to be complacent. From all indications, Benin are fired up for this encounter. I just pray the NFF eschews all forms of distraction and just focus squarely on getting the 3 points on offer.
Sadly, the same NFF has started taking steps that are causing fans much anxiety: they are mulling over transporting the Super Eagles players by boat to Benin.
Boat?
If fans are finding this idea ludicrous, I wonder how the Europe based players will find such a concept. But crucially how such initiatives can distract the Super Eagles and ultimately derail efforts.
Also, if Benin can release their own list now, what is the NFF waiting for?
Benin has released a strong squad and their players are talking tough ahead of this encounter. We Super Eagles fans wait eagerly for the squad list to come out and for the NFF to ensure no stone is left unturned in guaranteeing a favourable outcome on March 27.
Old cargo Omotoyossi! Lol, Deo, you mischievous today!
Only a novice will underestimate this Benin side. They have been doing well of late, they gave us a torrid time when they came visiting earlier. At home, they will be a challenge. Under normal circumstances, we should get a result there. But with the NFF involved, our task is much more difficult.
Lol.. 🙂
On a good day, this Super Eagles outfit should beat Benin away. These days, one is just no longer sure of what to expect…..
I don’t see these Eagles eating the squirrels in Cotonou,this Rohr team has no character they lack identify, allowing the Leone stars to come back from four goals in Nigeria was the last straw for me. Hopefully they can come home with a draw, the starting eleven will determine the outcome of this game.
What a squad! We hardly hear of those Clubs compared to our own player’s club yet these guys believe strongly that they can cause an upset on the Super Eagles. But wait let our Manager release his own list and hear excuses like “We don’t have players playing in Bayern, PSG, Liverpool, Madrid, Barca” so we can’t win anything or a draw against Benin will do. Oh what nonsense. I’ve been a fan of Rohr since but it’s glaring for us to see we are going to win nothing with him in charge. He has the man-management skills, good squad selection but Technically he can’t take us any further. He’s not even improving instead going worse to me with so much lack of confidence breathing heavily on his players too.
We await our list NFF and Mr. Rohr
@CHAIRMANFEMI.
This is our own list:
GKs:
OKOYE
UZOHO
AKPEYI
DEFENDERS:
EKONG
(BALOGUN/AKPOGUMA) pending
AJAYI
AWAZIEM
AINA
EBUEHI
COLLINS
ZAIDU
MIDFIELDERS:
NDIDI
ARIBALL
ETEBO
IWOBI
NACHO
STRIKERS:
CHUKWUEZE
KALU
SIMON
DENNIS
SODIQ
MOFFI
ONUACHU
MAJA
COACH: ROHR.
@Chairmanfemi, seriously? I don’t believe my eyes. No no no, it can’t be you Fęmi.
So, you are now seeing what we are seeing young man?
Sean, Edoman, Sunnyb and now Chairmanfemi is lamenting.
So, you guys knew this before why parambulating and ignoring the truth?
Is this the end of Oga Rohr followers Nigeria limited?
People are pulling out of the group now but it is getting too late.
Do you think Amunike and co can get the job done much more than Oga Rohr? If yes then, let’s go for them. Let’s keep telling NFF that Super Eagles deserve much better than this.
God bless Nigeria!!!
This is what I call a balance team.
Rasaq Omotoyossi has been excluded in the team while Oga Rohr still wanted Ighalo and Akpeyi back in the Super Eagles.
This Benin squad is intimidating I can say.
Oga Rohr have opened the door of shame for Super Eagles against Leone star and every small team in Africa now can come and do what the Leone Stars did to Nigeria.
I am not saying Eagles can not beat Benin but it won’t be easy.
For Nigerian team, I’m not impressed and we just have individual players but we don’t have a team.
I don’t expect much from Oga Rohr’s team. Apart from qualifying Nigeria to Afcon tournament, how far this team can go in Cameroon and in the next world cup?
I will like to hear from Dr. Drey and Oakfield because both of them loves to attack whomever that telling Oga Rohr that he is not good enough to take Super Eagles to the promised land.
The best thing NFF can do is to tell Mr. Rohr to step down after the Afcon qualifiers.
I believe that the combinations of Amunike, Egbo and Enyeama will be superbly ok for the Super Eagles.
Oga Rohr followers, is there any bright future for Oga Rohr’s Super Eagles?
Can you imagine, Edoman was very angry with the gaffer after 4:4 draw against Leone star.
I have been saying this before and I am still going to maintain my words here, it doesn’t matter where the players play but the qualities of the players should be a number priority of any coach.
But for Oga Rohr that is totally different.
With his foreign based players, Eagles are beatable if those small teams are fully focused and determined with their game plans.
We are not playing against top teams in Africa at the moment but we are getting scared already against Benin? This is very embarrassing for Nigeria. It is a big shame if we don’t know.
Oh well, I wish Super Eagles the best of luck. God bless Nigeria!!!
No one is getting scared of anybody , we just acknowledged the fact that the benenoiours are equally good, nd eagles should take cognizance of that very simple, after all all these players were der when they Nigeria
Are you sure of this @Odion?
Look at the squad now. You can tell that Benin team is really mean business.
The team is very confident and can upset Nigeria while Super Eagles coach is pulling his team down every day.
We the fans have no confidence over his team moreover, we have a good squad we can be proud of but the Technicality deficiencies of the coaches its hurting the team badly.
We are not bold enough to play this Benin’s team because the shock of Leone star team still fresh in our players memories and if cares is not taken, Benin team can take the advantage of that to punish our team.
It’s reaching the stage in Africa that no team have fear over the Super Eagles no more because the capacity of Oga Rohr and the entire crew of the team already known to them.
Algerian coach have studied the Nigerian Super Eagles coaches and punished them twice.
The Algerian coach said what he was going to do against the Super Eagles and he did just that.
Sierra Leone coach saw the weaknesses of our coaches in the second half and made a great correction In the second half then, what happened at the end of the day?
Now, Benin is try to do the same thing and sending warning messages to Oga Rohr and you said
“No one is getting scared of anybody”
Well, what do I know? Fingers crossed. God bless Nigeria!!!