The Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles arrived the Congolese city of Point Noire 2:30am on Friday morning and after passing through immigration proceedings were checked into Atlantic Palace Hotel in the heart of the city.
The team made up of 25 players, the technical crew led by Big Boss Stephen Keshi, NFF President Amaju Pinnick who led the delegation, Senate Committee Chairman on Sports, Alhaji Adamu Gumba among others have since settled down for the business of getting three points off the host on Saturday afternoon.
It was drama at the airport as over 100 Nigerians resident in Congo, kept vigil to welcome the team with familiar songs, drumming and dancing. They were joined by the Nigerian Football and Other Sports Supporters Club, led by Dr Rauf Ladipo. The atmosphere was very lively as they mobbed the coaching crew and players while seizing the rare opportunity of taking photos with the Nigerian team.
Head Coach, Stephen Keshi was however not happy with reports that the team was riddled with injuries, inferring that the team was actually 100 percent fit at the moment. “Mikel is super fit, Enyeama (Vincent), had a slight shoulder strain and he’s also in perfect shape now, Raheem Lawal had knock during our last training session and he has since bounced back. So we should stop scaring Nigerians with reports that the team is injury hit”, he declared after conferring with team doctor, Ibrahim Gyaran.
The team will have a feel of the Stade Omnisport where it will tango the host at 3:30pm local time, which is the same time with Nigeria and the same time the game will be played on Saturday.
