Super Eagles Technical Adviser Gernot Rohr has drawn up a provisional squad list of 31 players for Nigeria’s international friendly game against 2021 AFCON hosts the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.
The list was announced by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Communications Department on Friday.
The friendly will hold on Friday, 4th June 2021 at the Wiener Neustadt in the Austrian capital, Vienna starting from 8.30pm Austria time.
Headlining the list is Captain Ahmed Musa, with deputy captain William Ekong, goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, defenders Kenneth Omeruo and Chidozie Awaziem, midfielders Wilfred Ndidi and Oghenekaro Etebo and forwards Victor Osimhen, Kelechi Iheanacho and Samuel Chukwueze also called.
Feirense of Portugal forward Abraham Marcus is called for the first time and Enyimba Anayo Iwuala, who was invited for the AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho in March was also invited.
The provisional list of 31 will be whittled down to 23 before the Super Eagles fly to Vienna for the clash with the five-time African champions.
Cameroon defeated the Eagles for three of their five AFCON titles (1984, 1988, 2000) but have not beaten Nigeria in regulation time since a 1-0 triumph in a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying match at the Stade Omnisports in Yaounde on 27th August 1989.
The Eagles thrashed the Lions 4-0 in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Uyo in September 2017 and were forced to a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in Yaounde, setting the stage for Nigeria’s qualification for the finals in Russia.
The last time both teams clashed was in the quarterfinals of the 2019 AFCON which the Eagles won 3-2.
Super Eagles full list for Cameroon friendly:
Goalkeepers: Francis Uzoho (APOEL Nicosia, Cyprus); John Noble (Enyimba FC); Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam, The Netherlands); Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Heartland FC)
Defenders: Kenneth Omeruo (CD Leganes, Spain); Kevin Akpoguma (Hoffenheim, Germany); Chidozie Awaziem (FC Boavista, Portugal); William Ekong (Watford FC, England); Olaoluwa Aina (Fulham FC, England); Jamilu Collins (SC Padeborn 07, Germany); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Tyronne Ebuehi (FC Twente, The Netherlands); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England)
Midfielders: Oghenekaro Etebo (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England); Abdullahi Shehu (Omonia Nicosa, Cyprus); Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Abraham Marcus (CD Feirense, Portugal)
Forwards: Ahmed Musa (Kano Pillars FC); Alex Iwobi (Everton FC, England); Sadiq Umar (Almeria FC, Spain); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal FC, Spain); Victor Osimhen (Napoli FC, Italy); Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Henry Onyekuru (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Anayo Iwuala (Enyimba FC); Peter Olayinka (Slavia Praha, Czech Republic); Terem Moffi (FC Lorient, France); Paul Onuachu (KRC Genk, Belgium); Simy Nwankwo (Crotone FC, Italy)
53 Comments
Nice… But na only one friendly we go play??? NFF do the needful o!!!! Plus where is Olise???
NFF should please sort olise out, we need him in our CAM position so much
If we lose that olise NFF should be blamed I swear….That is how eze came to us first but we where busy oiling our quota system mechanism…when eze exploded and England became interested they started snapping pictures upandan like children disgracing their sef….they shouldn’t have allowed eze leave that London camp without a national team cap hanging over his head even if na friendly but no giving abdulahi his birthright is more important.
Marcus Abraham makes the list. Woohoo!!!!!
I’m so happy with this boy’s invitation. Marcus is a great addition to the squad.
What are we not being told about Olise, Ejaria, Ademola etc switch?
My brother exactly the same thing i was thinking nff and rohr Wat are you pipo not telling us about olive, lookman and ejiara
Olise i mean
Hmmmm… So the Portugal Liga 2 guy Marcus has already done enough to get called up? How about Olise, Atiemwen, Samson Tijani and Nwakali to even just partake in trainings and get a feel of how the camp culture goes… Toh! Something is better than nothing atleast!
Markus is very good I would have loved to see Tijani and resurgent Ejike for more options. The Super eagles Frontline is really deadly.
Tijani has not been playing any football for his loan side in ages is either he was on the bench or not on the match day squad.
Lookman and Ejaria have taken forever to switch to Nigeria… Something is just not right! I am beginning to believe some gatekeepers don’t want those boys ever switching and playing for Nigeria…
Not a bad list!
Just place the following players and stand- by: Musa Noble, Collins, Onyekwuru and Iwuala, Ezenwa. On current form, Musa and Ezenwa should never have been on this list.
The remaining 99% of the remaining 23 players are the best available SE players in Europe.
Musa is political seriously speaking. Are we scared to speak?
This attack fear me I.
Good list but where is Balogun and Olise ? Olise feels like a rumor or brainwash to me.
hahahaha Simy is included that is good news now Simy prove yourself that your 19 goals in Itaian league is not a child play and also let hope oga coach will give you atleast 45 mins of play
I don’t think Olise is ready to switch…..there is something they aren’t telling us and why is Lookman’s switch taking so long. Since 2019 common now.
I dont agree this is true. I want to see Atiemwen, Osayi Samuel. Did they not do enough to warrant a callup? Olayinka and Atiemwen were eliminated in the semi finals of europa league.
Atiemwen and Olayinka did not make it to the semi final….. but I see what you are saying. Some names shouldn’t be there at all…
I don’t care if anyone attacks me but Musa and Ezenwa should not be on that list and should pls give room for the younger generation….. how many matches has Ezenwa played this season and how many has Musa played for Kano pillars. I have respect and appreciation for Musa and his contribution to this beautiful game for our country but let’s call a spade a spade. Please do not politicize the only unifying thing that that is left.
I agree with you but what can we do…SE has always had liability players right from time immemorial….They are like bone in the neck of the national team….They don’t improve on their careers as footballers but only looking forward to the next international break to search for a club using the national team…It’s a shame but we have to live with the shame….On the south African dude,I think ignoring him will make him crawl back into wherever he came from but responding to him is like fuelling his engine…. please everyone should ignore him and just act as if he is not even here.
You’re very right bro…..Ignoring the dunce will be better but this Musa issue is really bothering. He is blocking the space for young talents to grow in the national team. In a civilized country with a good football mgt, this will never happen. It’s like Argentina inviting Tevez.
It is cause. of Dr Drey you insulting me, because I want come defend him. I angry now.
I am of the opinion that olise should be invited immediately…no excuse!
That south African baboon is already hating again…. What a loser lol. To have time to come here and dislike all day. LAZY South African youth will start screaming that their jobs are being taken away but this fool has time to keep disliking. Will start ignoring this loser now lol. If you like dislike all day till next year SA won’t be in Cameroon 2022.
Where is my guy? with much, respect. and others are stupid. Dr Drey
Nice list I must say….at least let them earn their place in the team….I will score Rhor 70 percent on this list
Better list
All players can never be on the list at the same time
Drey, text me how to. log out, commot for complete sport page. two boys just insult me.
Hehehe @Bobby what’s your surname?..Bobby English or Bobby Vulvuzela?
You are not South African.You are a Nigerian probably someone on this forum using a different user name
I too like this gentleman @Greenturf…oil dey your head. Any eagle eye can spot how a Nigerian writes and how a South African writes.
Infact I can tell when an Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Edo etc write let alone a South African
Lol
Understandable musa is captain. Ezenwa what???
So cause he is captain he can stay inactive and continously be invited cause he is captain? What organized footballing nation does that?
With Ezenwa coming back… You know something is fishy with those who control callups.
Why only Cameroon though? I feel we should maximize this window and have 2 friendlies at least. Why Ezenwa continues to get an invite baffles me till tomorrow. We have young goalies out there in Europe doing well and thankfully the friendly is in Europe.othere than that the list is pretty decent plus whats happening as per Olise and Lookman
I couldn’t agree with you more. Ezenwa was struggling to keep clean sheets in the NPFL at some point. I thought the NFF were looking at arranging 2 friendlies? I am unsure what is happening regarding Olise and Lookman but I can’t wait until the kit out for the Super Eagles.
We do have young goalkeepers in Europe like that chap in Switzerland. I know quite a few Super Eagles fans who are crazy about him.
I have some reservations about this list. I still don’t understand why Rihr keeps inviting Ezenwa. Can someone pls tell me? Is he by design a must for SE no matter what? What about other active , better goalkeepers in the league if at all Rohr must invite a hone-based keeper?
The issue of Ahmed Musa’s invitation still beats me. It appears no matter the form, the team’s captain must get invited for international matches.
The case of Micheal Olise too. I was expecting his name on the list, being a friendly match. We are still very light in that creative midfield. As a matter none of the available players in the current team has come close to filling that gap. It’s obvious that NFF needs to make a strong deliberate effort to bring players like Olise and Ejiara in. Eze won’t be bad idea too only if he will consider us.
Iwobi has done well in creative midfield. He is world class.
Ejuke, Samuel kalu, nwobodo, Ibrahim abas, osigwe, yakubu,
I was expecting half of these names to be added to 31 man, but I believe rohr have a plan, musa invitation is probably to keep him relivant to the clubs that are interested in him, so I don’t think it’s that bad after all it’s a friendly pls let’s bear with musa he is still too young and productive to be put aside, the guy still deserve it at list for now, ezenwa and iwuala may not make the 23 cut down.
Musa is an Oldman… He isn’t less than 36yrs in real life…
Hmmmm! it takes Germany 2-3weeks to complete the switch of musiala from England while is taking Nigeria about 2years to complete the switch of Ademola Lookman from the same England?
Guys wetin dey happen na???
Olise we were told that covid19 stopped him from being invited the last time-out. Is it still the same Covid19 stopping him for the camerounian friendly match?
They told us that they were searching for three countries to play during the international break, now, we only have cameroun on board?
Wetin dey happen naaa?
Wallahi I dey vex this evening mehn!
Laporte switched from France to Spain under 4 months…… This highlights some sort of ineptitude either at Fifa or our NFF. Laporte had even played for the youth teams of France a number of times.
Nna mehn, see squad! The attack line up na second to none! Very scary…..
WHAOOOOOO
WHAT A BEST SQUAD.
All OUR STRIKERS ARE D BEST IN ALL THEIR RESPECTIVE CLUBS
This squad can give our opponents sleepless nights. Rohr means business. He’s not joking around.
Marcus is one heck of a player. I’m happy he’s received his invitation.
I was afraid that if we don’t move for him, Portugal might show interest. Hopefully, we can now cap him and secure him. He will fit in very well in the right or left wing. Can also play the number 10 role. The guy is a baller.
Very fast, dribbles well, and absolutely deadly in front of goal.
If he is healthy and injury free, he will endear himself to Nigeria fans very quickly.
As for Olise, I’m losing hope. The guy has the option of playing for France or England. Being very young, he is likely being advised to keep his options open.
I hear some big clubs like Bayern Munich are highly interested in him. He probably wants to play a season or two in one of the biggest clubs in the world before deciding his international future. If he choses Nigeria in the end, I will be pleasantly surprised!
As for us, I think we should start planning our future without the likes of Olise, Lookman and Ejaria. If they become available, great! If not, we still have massive quality in this squad. We can still accomplish great things with the talent we have available.
Very well said! Stop waiting for what you dont have and work with what you have. We have very good and quality players at our disposal. We can’t continue to fantasize about players whom we dont know for sure are going to be part of the team. Its a distraction and im happy the coach is moving past all of it. Focus on the names and players we are sure of and lets move forward. Anyone interested in joining can meet us on the way.
Or even play or Algeria too. As his mum is. I just saw clips of this new invitee Marcus, the boy can play.
Where is Olise and Leon Balogun?
Leon Balogun is injured again, achilles tendon injury in training since April 10th and that takes a bit of time to heal. Let’s pray for his speedy recovery to be fit for October games
For me, this list has God-father undertone written all over it.
How do you justify Ezenwa and Musa’s call up?? Are you telling me Ezenwa is better than Yakubu, Osigwe and Adeleke in Israel. This goalies are doing well in Europe but Ezenwa makes the cut?? How… How abeg how! Musa up till date hasn’t kicked a cup for Kano Pillars yet he’s invited ahead of MOTM winning Ejuke Chidera. Ok. Whatsoever makes Marcus make the cut, then Nwakali shouldn’t be left out.
The annoying part for me is, I know our attackers are on fire right now but how will Rohr feature all of them in just one match?? Rohr that doesn’t make changes until we cry Abba Father! NFF better make arrangement for another Friendly.
Also, Anyone still believing Lookman, Ejaria and Olise’s switch is still in process up till now should count him/herself a “MUMU”. Laporte completed his switch from France to Spain under how many months?? Musiala switch to Germany, Na how many weeks?? And here we have our NFF and Lookman, Ejaria, Olise taking forever… Lol. It’s either the boys haven’t decided to play for Nigeria or NFF isn’t doing much on the switch.
Michael Oliseh, like Tammy Abraham has ditched Nigeria. The NFF does not want to tell Nigerians the truth